Residents of Atuabo and neigbouring communities are threatening to resist the final commissioning of the Atuabo Gas Processing Plant over compensation packages and other health related issues.
Residents in Atuabo, Anokyi and Asemda in the Ellembele district, where the gas facility is stationed, are upset that their concerns about the facility have not been addressed.
An elder of Anokyi, James Annor Afful, told Citi News’ Obrempong Yaw Ampofo, that they have been complaining about the bad smell emanating from the pipes at the facility.
“When you walk around the coast, there is this foul smell, like rotten eggs,” he said.
“The stench is really bad, yet nobody knows what it is, they haven’t told us what they are doing.”
Mr. Afful also stated that the residents were unsure as to how much land the Ghana Gas Company had acquired to complete the project.
“Ghana Gas said they had acquired the land compulsorily for the project. We have no objection against that. All we want to know is, how much land have they acquired?”
There have also been issues with compensation packages given to residents who have been affected by the project.
The government, in June, acquired lands on which the gas processing plant at Atuabo would be situated
The Minister of Lands and Forestry signed an Executive instruments (EIs) to ensure that lands in seven sites where the gas project is situated would be owned by government.
By the acquisition, the lands in dispute at Atuabo, the metering station of the gas project and the right of way for gas pipelines to Aboadze all become the property of the state.
The move affected many farmers in the area, whose lands were also seized as part of the project.
A few of the farmers who spoke to Citi News complained that they were not fairly compensated by the government, arguing that they deserved more than they got for their lands.
The National Gas Company confirmed earlier in August that the Atuabo Gas Processing Plant has finally been completed after the successful hydro-testing of the pipelines from offshore to the facility.
The Head of Communications at the company, Alfred Obgamey, has revealed that the Atuabo Gas Processing Plant will generate about 150 million standard cubits of gas per day when completed.
He stated that “ the plant will start operations with about 30 million standard cubits of gas per day and graduate the process” to about 150 million as time goes on.
By: Edwin Kwakofi/citifmonline.com/Ghana