The President of the Western Nzema Traditional Council, Awulae Annor Adjaye has reminded the government and other stakeholders in the oil sector, to factor in the interest of coastal communities when designing the local oil policy, to avoid carnage during the commercial production of oil in the area.
According to him, since the adverse effects of oil spillage in these areas would be devastating when commercial production of the commodity begins next year, the interest of the local people must be considered as a paramount ingredient in any oil law formulation.
He pointed out that the carnage in the mining areas of Ghana should serve as warning to the government to do the right things in the oil sector.
The traditional ruler, who was addressing a stakeholders� conference in Takoradi recently, also advised the government to take all the necessary steps to ensure that the interest of the local communities, in terms of the sharing of the oil revenue, has been catered for.
About two months ago, The Chronicle took on Awulae Annor Adjaye when he questioned the basis upon which one of the oil installations had been named after an Ashanti, when the operational area belongs to Nzemas.
We disagreed with him, because his statement carried tribal connotations, which are the bane of conflicts in Africa.
The Chronicle however thinks that the latest comment he has made, which we have carried in our centre spread today, is a legitimate one, and deserves attention from the government.
Every Ghanaian is happy because we have at long last struck oil in commercial quantities, but what we have forgotten, is that the discovery comes with problems if the necessary measures are not put in place to manage it.
As we write this editorial, the people in the Niger Delta in Nigeria are battling the government over what they perceived to be unfair sharing of the oil revenue. This conflict has resulted in the death of several innocent people.
As we have often repeated in this column, it would be a disaster for us as a country, if we fail to learn from the Nigerian experience. It is in this direction, that we think Awulae Annor Adjaye has raised a valid point that must be discussed thoroughly by the government and other stakeholders, to see how best they can address the concerns of the local people, before the actual production of oil starts.
All the facilities that are supposed to go to the chiefs and their subjects, must made known now, to avoid future agitations from unscrupulous people that they are not getting their due share of the wealth.
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