PIAC calls for efficient use of petroleum revenue
Ms Marilyn Aniwa, the Coordinator of the Public Interest Accountability Committee (PIAC) has called for the sustainable management and efficient utilisation of the Ghana’s petroleum revenues.
She noted that the petroleum reserves of a country are non-renewable and therefore it was important for the proper management of proceeds for the benefit of both present and future generations.
Ms Aniwa made the call when the PIAC met members of various civil society organisations (CSOs) and community-based organisations (CBOs) to get feedback on ways of improving the Committee’s work on policies to govern the management of the petroleum revenues.
She said CSOs and CBOs were active in PIAC’s activities, for instance, on the Civil Society Platform on Oil and Gas (CSPOG), which petitioned the Committee over the cost of the Western Corridor Gas Infrastructure Project when they had reasons to believe that, the project in question had unrealistic cost-inflated by not less than $140 million.
The PIAC is a citizen-led statutory body established in 2011 under Section 51 of the Petroleum Revenue Management Act (Act 815) to provide an independent oversight of the collection, allocation and utilisation of Ghana’s petroleum revenues.
Participants at the meeting were members from CSPOG, Global Media Foundation, Ghana Oil and Gas for Inclusive Growth.
They discussed issues on the key recommendations in the PIAC’s 2018 Semi-Annual Report, process for oil blocks allocation in Ghana, and PIAC’s inspection on some projects in eight regions of the country.
The participants raised concerns over the projects inspection and advised that where oil revenues were only source of funding, the projects should be branded as oil projects.
They also asked that the Annual Budget Fund Amount projects should be more inclusive by involving stakeholders and beneficiaries in the project selection and implementation process to fall in line with best practices.
Speaking on the process for oil blocks association in Ghana, Mr Mark O.A. Agyemang, a member of the PIAC Technical Committee outlined the competitive tender process as; expression of interest, invitation for prequalification, invitation to tender submission and opening of bids, evaluation of bids, decision of bids and entry into petroleum agreement.
Mr Isaac Dwamena, the Administrative Manager of PIAC appealed to CBOs to put their shoulder to the wheel in calling for accountability, saying; “Go beyond transparency and accountability.”
Source: GNA