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Government
asked to learn from mistakes of oil producing countries
Accra, Dec 10, Ghanadot/GNA - Government was on Wednesday
urged to learn from oil extracting countries to avoid
mistakes they committed during their initial extraction
periods.
Mr. Ian Gary, Senior Policy Advisor, Extractive Industries,
Oxfam America, who made the appeal at a day's workshop in
Accra on "Oil and Gas", said Ghana had a number of countries
that it could easily learn from so as to avoid mistakes that
would lead to an "Oil Curse".
"The oil find in a number of developing countries led to
crises such as civil wars, political instability, increases
in corruption, mismanagement, and worsening instances of
poverty among the citizens.
"Ghana should avoid all discrepancies, by collaborating and
learning from countries such as Nigeria and Angola, so that
the right negotiations would be done with the oil
companies," Mr. Gary said.
He said Oil Boom often raised the expectations of the people
thereby increasing their appetite for spending.
"Foreign debt for such oil countries grows faster meaning
those countries mortgage their future based on the oil
backed loans," Mr Gary said.
He said the US government was targeting the Gulf of Guinea
area for at least 18 per cent of its oil supply presently
and would soon increase such requirement to 25 per cent with
more oil finds in places like Ghana.
Mr Gary urged civil society and the Media to put the
government on its toes to be opened in its negotiations to
avoid secrecies in the oil industry.
Mr Yaw Opoku, Associate Chief Executive Officer, Centre for
Labour Rights and Community Service, urged Parliament to
review some aspect of the Minerals and Mining Law, Act 703
of 2006, which he described as "worrisome"
He said the law did allow nationals to be in control of the
resources on their land, but rather gave benefits to
"outsiders who were not citizens".
According to him, section two of the Act says the government
could acquire land for mining, but it could also authorise a
mining company to enter that land and mine.
"Because of the word "authorise", many mining companies
enter the land and mine without first paying compensation
for the land to the disadvantage of the people working on
the land.
"This is against the Constitutional provision that
guarantees individual's right to property," Mr Opoku said.
He appealed to parliament to review the Act in order to make
the individual citizen gain more.
GNA
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