Minister: Energy ministry and agencies must collaborate

Accra, June 25, GNA - Mr. Felix Owusu-Adjapong, Minister of Energy, on Wednesday called for closer collaboration between his ministry and all agencies connected to it. "There is the need for us to come together to discuss problems and challenges facing the sector and how to address them," the Minister said

when he paid a working visit to three agencies connected to the energy sector to get acquainted with their work and to reassure them of the Ministry's support.

The Minister, accompanied by his deputy and the Chief Director, visited the Ghana Oil Company Limited (GOIL), the Bui Secretariat and the Energy Foundation.

At GOIL, the Minister said despite pressures from other competitors in the oil sector, the company had been able to stand the test of time emerging as the only Ghanaian oil company in the country.

He stated that government was considering talks with the company in terms of distribution with the country striking oil and commended the management and staff for living up to expectation. Mr. Yaw Agyemang-Duah, Chief Executive of GOIL, gave a history of the company saying it originally started as a joint venture before the government took over in 1970.

He said the company had performed better than when it was a joint venture adding, "GOIL can now be found in all the 10 regions of the country and also competing with multinational oil companies". The company is now listed on the stock exchange.

Mr. Agyemang-Duah said GOIL had a role to play in the marketing aspects of the country's share of the oil discovery and expressed appreciation to the Minister for his visit.

At the Bui secretariat, Mr. Fred Oware, Chief Executive Officer, Bui Power Authority, refuted allegations that Ghanaians working at the Bui dam site were being maltreated. He said the workers were yet to adopt the Chinese way of work since it was totally different from that of Europe and Africa. He noted that work was progressing at the site and added that they had absolute control over the area. Mr. Andrew Wilson, Executive Secretary of the Energy Foundation, said the role of the foundation was to promote sustainable development in the energy sector, educate its consumers and also advocate for policies concerning the sector. This, he said, was aimed at improving productivity, but difficulty in accessing for loans to improve their work had been a major problem for the foundation. He said, in this regard, the Foundation has decided to organise an energy fair "for financial institutions to see the role we play in the sector" and expressed the hope that it would encourage them to give loans to the foundation.