IT HAS been revealed that the one-billion dollar Atuabo Gas plant located in the Western Region of Ghana was over-bloated by a whopping $40 million.
The allegation was made by the co-chair of the Ghana Extractive Industry Transparency Initiative (GHEITI), Dr. Steve Manteaw, who contends that SINOPEC – the Chinese company which executed the project – deliberately engaged in fraudulent activities.
$15m Recouped
Dr. Manteaw is reported to have disclosed that about $15 million out of the alleged $40 million has been recouped from the company.
The Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA), which is investigating the matter, is reported to be the entity that recouped the money from the company for ‘stealing from the state under dubious contract sum.’
Background Of Contract
The Atuabo Gas Project was completed in 2014 and commissioned in 2015 under the erstwhile President John Mahama-led National Democratic Congress (NDC) administration.
Discussions surrounding the project had then met stiff opposition by some Members of Parliament (MPs) of the then opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP).
Under the contract, SINOPEC was to construct the Atuabo Gas plant, situated in the Ellembelle District, to help provide gas to meet the energy demands of the country – as the nation was faced with power crisis which came to be known as dumsor, and collapsed several businesses.
At the time of its completion, the plant was producing over 140 million cubic feet of gas per day to the Aboadze Thermal Plant.
But Dr. Manteaw told the media that even though the purpose of the project was to meet the energy needs of the country, its actual cost was inflated to the detriment of the state.
“What for me is so most worrying is the fact that through my investigations, I discovered that a particular plant that was imported by SINOPEC for the project was overpriced by as much as $40 million and this did not catch the attention of our public authorities. And even though I raised the concern as far back as 2013, nobody took serious notice of it,” he was reported to have told Citi FM.
According to him, “Again, what I find to be so disturbing about this whole development is that Ghana Gas granted some tax concessions to SINOPEC which is not within its mandate.”
Dr. Manteaw pointed out that he was surprised to have discovered that “Parliament approved the $152 million tax waivers without seeing the engineering, procurement, construction and commissioning contract which contains the fiscal exemptions.”
Ghana Shortchanged
According to him, SINOPEC set up an offshore company in Dubai by name FAZ as part of the process of procuring logistics, pipes and equipment for the project.
He stated, “Because our authorities did not follow through these procurement activities of SINOPEC, the prices that were quoted were not fair market prices and so Ghana was shortchanged. I’m happy that the GRA has acted lately and investigated the matter. I’ve cooperated with them and given them information that I have.”
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