The Ghana Gas Company (GGC) has taken steps to protect its pipelines from any possible vandalism by illegal gold miners and farmers, the Minister of Petroleum, Mr Emmanuel Armah-Kofi Buah, has said.
Surveillance and extra security measures such as patrols have been put in place to protect the 110-kilometre pipeline that transports gas from Atuabo to the thermal plants of the Volta River Authority (VRA) at Aboadze.
In an interview with the Daily Graphic during a tour of the Atuabo Gas Processing Plant by members of the Parliamentary Press Corps last Saturday, Mr Buah said a computerised system had also been put in place to detect faulty pipelines.
He said if any pipeline was found to be compromised, it would automatically be shut down and the flow of gas stopped until it was repaired.
According to him, recently some illegal gold miners who carried out their activities close to the pipelines were arrested by the police.
"Extra security on the pipelines, which pass through six districts, is crucial to avoid a disaster," he emphasised.
Specialised road
Mr Buah indicated that the construction of a specialised road to transport LPG for local consumption had been stepped up.
According to him, the project was being funded by the GGC, with support from the Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC).
He explained that before constructing the gas plant at Atuabo, the ministry needed to address issues of pipelines and how the gas could be transported.
"We needed to engage all the six districts and empower them, but it became clear that if the lean gas that will fuel power plants and generate electricity is going to work, LPG and other by-products must be evacuated.
“We have set up a gas task force that coordinates these activities to make sure we can undertake the road project and also construct a bridge to ease the movement of trucks. The whole idea is to make sure that we can get a very good road to evacuate the LPG because without its evacuation, the plant will have to be shut down,” he said.
Mr Buah said the completion of what he described as a gas enclave road from Jomoro to the Ellembelle District was vital for evacuating gas to the VRA.
Merger
He said deliberations on the merger of the GGC and the GNPC were on course and added that the merger process was likely to be completed by the end of the year, after dealing with some legal issues on the matter.
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