FORUM ON PETROLEUM BILLS END (PAGE 12, SEPT 25, 2010)

A CONSULTATIVE forum to solicit views on the Petroleum Revenue Management and Petroleum Exploration and Production Bills, 2010, has been held in Sunyani, the capital of the Brong Ahafo Region for stakeholders in the northern sector of the country.
The forum, which was under the auspices of the joint Parliamentary Committee of Mines and Energy and Finance, was attended by Paramount Chiefs, Municipal/District Chief Executives Presiding Members, Religious Leaders, Assembly Members, Representatives of Non-governmental organisations, Youth groups, Civil Society Organisations, Students, Heads of Decentralised Departments and Agencies as well as Development Partners.
With the support of the German Development Co-operation (GTZ), the forum was organised to tap ideas from the people to enable Parliament to fashion out a law that would ensure the judicious, prudent and efficient use and management of revenue that would accrue from the oil find in the country.
Mr James Avedzi, the Chairman of the Finance Committee, who gave an overview of the Petroleum Revenue Management Bill, pointed out that Ghana was blessed to learn lessons, both positive and negative ones, from countries which had also found oil.
That, he said, would provide the opportunity for the country to adopt sound, sustainable and efficient management of the oil revenue, saying that, the bill primarily seeks to distinguish between oil and traditional revenue sources of revenue.
According to Mr Avedzi, the bill also seeks to prohibit the petroleum account being used as collateral for the development of a particular region, adding that it was only Parliament that could determine the use of the petroleum account to support the budget for any particular year.
Under the bill, he indicated, two separate funds would be established, namely Stabilisation and Heritage Funds, which would respectively ensure that the economy was always stabilised and the future generation also taken care of.
The Ranking Member of the Committee on Mines and Energy, Mr Joseph Kofi Adda, called on all Ghanaians to come together as one people to find the best out of the exploration and production as well as the revenue that would accrue from the oil find, stressing that the oil belonged to the entire Ghanaian populace and not one single individual.
He declared: ‘‘This oil business cannot be handled by one agency. The oil does not belong to President Mills; neither does it belong to former President Kufuor or Kofi Adda; it is the property of all Ghanaians. The ownership matter is very important and so we should bear in mind.’’
Mr Adda, however, explained that even though the oil belonged to all Ghanaians, it was vested in the President of the country in trust and on behalf of the people.
During an open forum, the President of the Upper West Regional House of Chiefs, Naa S. D. Gore II, suggested the setting up of a special court to deal with officials who might embezzle money from the oil find, adding that those found guilty should have no option of an appeal when convicted.
He also appealed that part of the money should be channelled to the chieftaincy institution since, according to him, the current money made available to the various Houses of Chiefs was woefully inadequate, adding, ‘‘Let part of the money come to us.’’
The Presiding Member of the Sunyani West District Assembly, Mr Kwame Agyenim Boateng, observed that there was a massive unemployment level in the country and therefore suggested that a portion of the oil money should be set aside to deal with the problem just as the various assemblies enjoyed the Common Fund.
In a welcoming address, the Deputy Brong Ahafo Regional Minister, Mr Eric Opoku, underscored the importance of the forum, noting that there had been antecedents of oil producing countries, where oil revenue, instead of helping to accelerate their national development, had rather become a curse engendering civil and community strife that cost such countries a lot of resources.