News:
June 5, 2012
The Deputy Minister of Energy, Hon. Inusah Fuseini has said out of the about 1,500 jobs created in the oil and gas sector about 840 representing about 57% are Ghanaians.
According to him, the Ministry is however unable to know the exact number from the Western Region employed in the oil and gas sector as the information gathering instrument do not make provisions for regional considerations.
The deputy Minister, Hon. Inusah Fuseini made this known on the floor of parliament on Tuesday while responding to a question asked by the MP for Takoradi Hon. Kwabena Okyere Darko-Mensah who wanted to know the percentage of people from the western region who had been employed in the oil and gas industry.
Hon. Fuseini said the Ministry recognizes the exploitation of the oil and gas resources located in the Western Region, which certainly has some environmental risk to the citizens and generated high expectations from the population.
He added that the ministry in recognition of these and other considerations has put in place specific interventions in the Western Region to address some of these challenges.
The measures include
(a) The Ministry in-collaboration with Tullow Ghana is establishing an Small and Medium Skill Enterprise (SME) development centre in Takoradi
(b) The Ministry and Tullow have allocated 40% of annual scholarship initiated by Tullow to train Ghanaians in UK universities in areas of oil and Gas to the Western Region.
(c) The petroleum commission will have an operation office in Takoradi and
d) The enactment of a local content in local participation regulation to safeguard the interest of communities affected directly by the oil and gas activities in particular and Ghanaians in general.
Kwadwo Anim/Ghanamps.gov.gh