Elizabeth Allua Vaah, a Ghanaian-Canadian Author, has criticized the Petroleum Hub agreement between Ghana’s government and the TCP-UIC Consortium as a fraudulent transaction.
The author claims that the $12 billion agreement is not feasible and may worsen the residents’ poor living conditions.
The government of Ghana has signed a US$12 billion agreement with the TCP-UIC Consortium, which comprises Touchstone Capital Group Holdings Ltd., UIC Energy Ghana Ltd., China Wuhan Engineering Co. Ltd., and China Construction Third Engineering Bureau Co. Ltd.
The agreement is for the development of the first phase of the Petroleum Hub project in the Jomoro Municipal Area in the Western Region.
The government has told Ghanaians that the project is to help transform Ghana’s energy sector and to also position Ghana as the destination for energy trading in West Africa.
However, Elizabeth Allua Vaah says the deal stinks, and if allowed to go through, it will push the results into poverty.
The project she suggested is not financially viable, and the winning companies are not financially capable and have not raised a single dollar for it.
She stated that, from the confirmed investigations, it has emerged that the companies that won the deal in executing the project are not competent or do not have the capacity to execute the project.
Details of the Project
The project covers over 20,000 acres of land in the Jomoro Municipal Area in the Western Region.
The Petroleum Hub is private sector-led and expected to secure investments and development of key, ancillary and other infrastructures.
The key infrastructure includes three (3) refineries, five (5) petrochemical plants, 10 million cubic metre storage facilities, Jetties and Port Infrastructure.
The ancillary infrastructure and services include a power plant, rail and road network, Liquified Natural Gas (LNG) terminals, pipelines, water treatment facilities, repairs & maintenance services, nautical services, waste treatment facilities, logistics, security & emergency response centre, residential & commercial facilities, light to medium industrial area and recreational centres.
Other services and infrastructure such as a state-of-the-art laboratory for petroleum products, fabrication workshop, metering and calibration services, equipment supplies, logistics services, remote monitoring & diagnostics, lubricant storage & supply, and inspection & certification services will also be available.
The project is estimated to cost about US$60 billion.
Elizabeth Allua Vaah said that the project details and its involved parties lack transparency, and all companies involved lack the financial capacity to execute the project.
“They claim the project would be executed by a consortium of companies. But one of the companies involved is based in Canada, and it has been declared bankrupt. That company is currently being dragged into court over their inability to pay some $100,000. They don’t know the information we have at our disposal. Another company is also a Russian company, which is a scam. The Ghanaian company is also a company from the Eastern Region, which does not have financial strength but only serves as a liason.”
Speaking to Dr. Ren, sit-in host of ‘As it is in Ghana’, on Rainbow Radio 92.4FM, UK, via Zoom, she said we have to take our time, and if this project is commercially viable, we will get the right people to come and do the right. We have the land and the resources under the soil. If we really want to do this genuinely to benefit the people, we need to take our time because we have a lot of options. These companies that are rushing to execute the project don’t have the financial and technical capacity to do so. They only want to take our lands and deprive the people.”
The writer noted that for far too long, the people have been taken for granted, but this time around, they are wide awake and will resist any deal that will scam the people.
She pledged to sacrifice herself to ensure that this project does not hold until the proper negotiations are done.
“I hear a lot of Jomoro people saying that we are doing this, so the project would be sent to Ellembelle. You don’t need to worry about that. This project will not go anywhere. If this project is relocated to Ellembelle, I will use my sacrifice and will ask you to do whatever you want with me. I am assuring you of that. We will not allow that to happen. From what we have gathered so far, this project is not commercially viable. At least as of now, there is neither the money nor the economic viability to make this project happen.”
She encouraged those who are affected by this project not to be in affairs but to join the concerned group that is resisting this project to fight.
“Some have received death threats for demanding the right thing to be done. They have been told to stop what they are doing, or should the project be stopped, they would be killed. How are you? Everybody has the right to speak up against issues that are affecting them. It is up to the person in charge to explain to the affected persons. There is bloodshed for the land to be there, so the residents have the right to know the details surrounding the project, how it will affect them, and how they will benefit from it.”
Source: rainbowradioonline.com
