Parliament has deferred the approval of the programme of activities of the Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC) pending some questions to be answered by the Minister of Petroleum on their operations.<\/p>\n
Members of the house expressed serious reservations about some activities of GNPC which they say amounts to a waste of the country\u2019s resources.<\/p>\n
The MPs insisted that they could not approve GNPC\u2019s programme because some projects the corporation wants to undertake deviates from their core mandate.<\/p>\n
[contextly_sidebar id=”sxWI3A63WzaHoMOjGldKKlJ2KxK1Eiyn”]Contributing to the motion for approval of GNPC\u2019s programmes on the floor of the house, MP for Old Tafo in the Ashanti region, Dr Anthony Osei Akoto said the way GNPC is being managed currently leaves much to be desired.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey have loaned $58 million to the Tema Oil Refinery (TOR) and now they are trying to construct a national emergency reponse centre. Is that their mandate? They are doing lots of things that we should check. We cannot agree to pass this. If we pass this, the public will blame Parliament for not doing its work well,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Dr. Akoto noted that \u201cGNPC is overblowing its expenditure, yet they claim they have a deficit. They go and loan money to TOR and guarantee $100 million for ECG and yet, they come and tell us they operate a deficit.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen people are given position, they should know that they are representing the people of Ghana\u2026We are party to certain activities that we know are wrong. The programme of activities we know are wrong. You and I want GNPC to build a medical response centre, but for me it doesn\u2019t make sense,\u201d he stated.<\/p>\n
The GNPC programme of activities is a document which needs legislative approval to enable the corporation to carry out its projects for the year.<\/p>\n
Parliament defers GNPC budget<\/strong><\/p>\n Parliament in 2015 deferred voting<\/strong><\/a><\/span> on the budget for the GNPC after the Deputy Minority Leader, Dominic Nitiwul, raised some critical issues with it, saying for a budget as big as the national budget, there ought to be much clarity.<\/p>\n GNPC boss defends \u2018numerous\u2019 projects<\/strong><\/p>\n The CEO of the GNPC Alex Mould had earlier defended the corporations decision to invest in a number of projects<\/strong><\/a><\/span>.<\/p>\n \u201cThe bottom line is the GNPC has to dispose of its gas; GNPC has to ensure that the value chain that is going to ensure that we get paid is a value chain that is working and sustainable, currently it is not. So the GNPC has to be involved in ensuring that happens otherwise for sure, we will not be paid for our gas…So that is why the GNPC is involved in the power sector, because we are going to be the largest revenue in the power sector in the fuel supply. If you look at how much money will be collected, GNPC will be collecting from the IPP\u2019s more than fifty percent because we will be supplying gas to everybody,\u201d he clarified.<\/p>\n –<\/p>\n By: Godwin A. Allotey\/citifmonline.com\/Ghana
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