The presidential candidate of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), John Mahama, has given the assurance that he will revive the Tema Oil Refinery (TOR) and the Bulk Oil Storage and Transportation (BOST) if he wins the 7 December general elections.
Interacting with members of the Tanker Drivers’ Association and liaison officers of the oil marketing companies at Tema on Thursday, he expressed disappointment in the Akufo-Addo government “for supervising the collapse of the two companies, which were self-sufficient and vibrant” during his administration.
Mahama said because of the government’s mismanagement of TOR, it has ceased to perform its core function of refining oil and has now been reduced to a rented storage facility for oil importers.
“The last year before we left government, we lifted crude oil from the Jubilee field for TOR to refine and after we left power, they sold the crude and today TOR is not functioning again,” he said.
Regarding the operations of BOST, Mahama recalled that when the “NDC assumed office, the company was highly indebted but through proper management, the government was able to transform it to become one of the best performing state enterprises.”
He therefore described the current state of BOST as a “very sad spectacle.”
Mahama said the petroleum value chain, starting from refinery to the final consumption stage, employs thousands of people and it is imperative that the government gives it the needed attention.
He assured oil sector players and other stakeholders that the next NDC government will work hard to revive and transform both TOR and BOST to enable them discharge their mandate.
Mahama is therefore appealing to Ghanaians to vote for him to enable him to work hard to “revive and transform both TOR and BOST.”
