LAWS ON ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT AND CORRUPTION SHOULD BE STRENGTHENED BECAUSE OF OIL FIND

A senior lecturer at the Faculty of Integrated Development Studies of the University for Development Studies (UDS) in the Northern Region of Ghana, has asked government to strengthen its laws regarding environmental management and corruption, else the petroleum find could spell the country doom.

Dr. Atingah Mba stressed that laws governing the nation’s environment and checking corrupt activities should be made in such a way that players in the oil industry would be guided of the serious consequences they could face in case they break the laws.

Considering what is currently happening in the USA with regards to the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico by British Petroleum (BP) and destruction of Ghana’s environment by mining companies, he said the laws should empower government and its institutions to take bold and serious actions against multinationals that will cause any harm to the environment and its habitats.

Dr. Mba made these statements at an oil and gas forum organized by Dalun Simli Centre, a local Non-Governmental Organisation at Dalun in the Tolon-Kumbungu District of the Northern Region on Wednesday July 28th, 2010.

Speaking on the topic: “Government Proposal for Petroleum Revenue Management” he said the money expected from the oil and gas sales could bring enormous development opportunities to the country but on the other hand could also worsen the poverty situation of the populace if it is not managed very well.

If politicians who are the nation’s managers do not do things in the right way but begin to jealously guide their stomachs instead of distributing the proceeds of the oil in a wider range to reach the poor, poorer and poorest, corruption will be high and that will compel the formation of rebel and armed groups to fight the government and multinationals, he warned.

Dr. Atingah Mba urged government to seriously take into consideration the concerns raised by residents of the surrounding communities in the Western Cape Three Points area in the Western Region and solve their problems, because depriving the livelihoods of majority of them due to the oil extraction coupled with relocation of residents could spark violence one day if affected persons are not well compensated.

The UDS lecturer also cited the absence of long term development plan as that could lead to mismanagement and misappropriation of the oil revenue since they might not be specific areas to invest in.

Dr. Atingah Mba feared that the price of oil if volatile or high, could worsen the plight of the vulnerable group as certain goods from outside will find it difficult to come into the country due to the strength of the local currency. Adding, greedy political leaders will continue to stay far beyond their mandatory period of rule citing Libya, Cameroon, Uganda, Angola and Gabon where their Heads of State have ruled for so long, simply because their people think that they are doing extremely well and that is giving those leaders the chance to undertake a lot of constitutional reforms to their advantage.

He therefore called for the empowerment of institutions like the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) and Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ) to be able to management the oil money and not allow unscrupulous politicians to take advantage of the oil to enrich themselves at the expense of ordinary people in society.

Salifu Mahama, Coordinator of Dalun Simli Centre said the workshop was organized to inform Civil Society Groups of the current development in the country’s oil sector with regards to the petroleum revenue management bill in parliament and seek their inputs so that Ghana could have a well drafted law at the end of the day. Barring any mishaps, Ghana is expected to pump significant quantity of oil which experts have warned the nation’s managers not to let the natural resource be a curse on its people but a blessing.