A former Vice Chairman of the Public Interest and Accountability Committee (PIAC), Mr Kwame Jantuah, has attributed the challenges that the Tema Oil Refinery (TOR) is going through to what he calls ‘political football’.
He said during the pre-budget analysis on TV3 Wednesday November 17 that in order to make TOR viable, there is the need to eschew the political game at the refinery.
The private legal practitioner also identified theft at TOR as one of the many challenges the refinery is saddled with.
Recenlty, some staff of TOR were interdicted for their involvement in the alleged theft of GHS10.4 million worth of cables.
According to the Interim Management Committee (IMC), the affected staff “who hold various positions of responsibility and accountability concerning the transfer of products, have been queried and interdicted pending the outcome of investigations.”
It added “The Interim Management Committee (IMC) at the Tema Oil Refinery (TOR) Ltd. has as part of its ongoing mandate to conduct Technical and HR audits, and also access viable business partnerships for the Refinery have concluded that consistent product and financial losses need to be eradicated completely if the Refinery is to meet its vast potential.
“Hence the IMC has committed to establishing a ‘zero tolerance culture for unacceptable product losses’, commenced investigations into a number of product storage and transfer losses recorded in the company over a period of time.
“Consequently, a number of workers who hold various positions of responsibility and accountability with respect to the transfer of products have been queried and interdicted pending the outcome of investigations”.
The statement added: “The IMC however wishes to reiterate that the investigations will be carried out with due consideration to a fair process. We implore everyone to be patient and not jump to any conclusions until investigations have been completed.
“Individuals who are found not responsible nor accountable for the financial and product losses would be fully restored while those found responsible and accountable in the chain of command (with respect to product losses during storage, movement and transfer will be dealt with accordingly”.
Regarding this, Mr Jantuah said “This practice has been going on for a long time.”
By Laud Nartey|3news.com|Ghana