The District Chief Executive (DCE) for Ahanta West Assembly, Mr. Jones Amoah has hinted that he is ready to lead an aggressive crusade to make sure that the chief and people of Ahantaman get their fair share of the benefits that would accrue from the discovery of oil on their land.
According to him, the manner in which the oil companies have relegated the chief and people of the area to the background, and paying homage to other chiefs was an insult to their integrity. �I am waiting for the oil companies to come to my office for me to tell them my piece of mind. They fly in planes to the oil field without paying homage to our chiefs�, he noted.
Speaking in an interview with The Chronicle, shortly after he had addressed some chiefs from the area at Agona Nkwanta, the district capital last week Friday, the DCE noted that he was ready to sacrifice his life to make sure that the oil benefits did not elude the chief and people of Ahantaman. According to DCE Amoah, �I met officials of the oil companies and I told them that the chief and people of Ahantaman were unhappy about developments in the area, in the wake of the oil discovery, and they have promised to come to my office to sort things out�.
He was not happy that though the oil has been found in his district, none of the oil conferences have been held there. Their chiefs have also been relegated to the background without any tangible explanation. Mr. Amoah called for moral and spiritual support from the chiefs to enable him lead the aggressive crusade to restore the dignity of the people. Indeed, the chief and people of Ahantaman are unhappy with the oil companies as they have failed to employ the local people to carry out jobs that do not require any skills.
Over the sidelining of the people of Ahantaman to do minor jobs on the rig, of the 14 people who were in April/May 2009 engaged by the Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC) on behalf of Vanco Oil, an American based oil firm doing exploration exercise at Cape Three points, none of them were local people.
Meanwhile, the chiefs of Ahantaman have unanimously given their spiritual and moral blessing to the DCE to lead the crusade that would help get their fair share of the oil proceeds.
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