Government urged to pass PRMA regulation

Mr Yaw Owusu Addo, the Communications Committee Chairman of the Public Interest Accountability Committee’s (PIAC) on Friday urged government to pass a regulation for the Petroleum Revenue Management Act (PRMA).

He said PIAC was established by section 51 of the PRMA Act of 2010, Act 815; however, it has no regulation backing it, adding that, such a regulation would help define how the Committee could be funded to enable it to carry out its constitutional mandate.

Mr Addo, who made the appeal during a press conference in Accra, organized by the Civil Society Platform on Oil and Gas, lamented that for the past two years, PIAC officials had not been paid and they had no premises allocated them by government to be operating from.

He said they had to depend on the benevolence of civil society organizations such as the Revenue Watch Institute, the German Society for International Cooperation (GIZ) for office accommodation and sometimes operational cost to keep them going.

He said all attempts to get the attention of the Finance Ministry to address the plight of PIAC had fallen on deaf ears. He PIAC has being monitoring what happens to revenue being generated from the production of oil and gas in the country but it has no funds to carry out its duties.

Mr Addo noted that PIAC had since its inception been able to publish two annual reports, with a third one yet to be launched this month, but Parliament’s Public Accounts Committee had not been able to deliberate on its contents.

He urged civil society organizations to ensure that the PIAC regulatory law is passed by Parliament. “Civil society organization, your job is not over, PIAC is supposed to monitor the petroleum revenue and no one likes to be monitored. We should not kill the messenger after he has done the job to the best of his ability,” he stated.

He further admonished the media to play a critical role by reporting on their activities and educating the public on the contents of their annual reports.

Mr Addo said PIAC had been able to organize forums in Kumasi and Takoradi to educate the public on their activities, adding that, a third one is slated for Ho before the end of the year.