Oil Marketing Companies urge government to resource EPA, Labour Department

Participants in a three-day “Oil for Development” workshop in Accra have called on the government to adequately resource the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Labour Department to enable them to deal with oil spillage.

A 17-point resolution passed by the participants signed by Mr Emmanuel Mensah, General Secretary of the General Transport, Petroleum and Chemical Workers Union said employers in the oil and gas industries did not provide employees with Personal Protection Equipment (PPE).

The participants were drawn from Oil Marketing Companies (OMC).

They said provisions in the Local Content and Participation Policy addressing recruitment and training which was yet to be passed into law was already being abused and urged the Ministry of Energy to be vigilant to achieve that goal in the oil sector.

“Government is urged to ensure that policies and regulatory provision, such as the Petroleum Revenue Management Act, Petroleum Commission Act, and the Petroleum Exploration and Production draft bill are passed into law in the interest of the people,” the participants said.

They commended Government for signing onto the Extractive Industry Transparency Initiative (EITI) and called for its passage into law.

The participant said the Tema Oil Refinery’s role in the economy cannot be over emphasised and called on the government to pay a serious attention to the operations of TOR.

The participants commended the Trades Union Congress for its role in sensitising stakeholders in the oil industry.

Source: GNA