Special topics
The Western Regional Minister, Mr Paul Evans Aidoo, has appealed to heads of departments in the region to learn more about the oil and gas to enable them inform people who might call at their offices.
Addressing heads of departments at the Regional Coordinating Council (RCC) in Sekondi on Wednesday, he said with a few months for the commercial drilling of oil to start, the world must know about it and it was their responsibility to assist government in propagating the news.
He however, cautioned the heads against using their offices for the training of people in specific job areas with the intention of offering them jobs in the oil and gas sector.
Mr Aidoo said information reaching his office indicated that some individuals and non-governmental organizations had begun training people in areas like welding, engineering among others with the view to offering them jobs in the oil and gas industry and as a result some people had been defrauded.
He appealed to personnel of the Lands Commission not to issue documents on lands to individuals in connection with the oil industry as the state needed land especially along the coast for projects in connection with the industry.
Mr Aidoo expressed concern about the difficulties in acquiring land at Bonyere, a town close to the Jubilee Oil Field, off Cape Three Points where gas is expected to be produced.
He expressed fears that if by December no effort had been made on the project, the first commercial oil might be produced without the gas project thus compelling the gas to be flared.
The Minister said the government would continue to dialogue with the traditional elders to be flexible to enable the project to take off in the interest of the region and the nation.
http://www.ghananewsagency.org/s_social/r_21370/
