Dr. Kwabena Donkor, Deputy Minister of Energy, has blamed the management of the Tema Oil Refinery (TOR) for the cumulative debt of the refinery. Specifically, he blamed the finance, commerce and the internal control units of the refinery for not recovering TOR’s debts. “You have contributed to the mushrooming of the oil marketing companies (OMCs) in the country which are feeding fat at our expense. There are about 57 OMCs in the country and this is unacceptable,” he said on Thursday during a familiarisation visit to a number of agencies under his ministry in Tema. The agencies are TOR, the Energy Commission, Bulk Oil Storage Transport (BOST) and the Ghana Cylinder Manufacturing Company (GCMC). Dr. Donkor expressed disappointment with the performance of TOR’s management which, he said, had resulted in a pile-up of debt, insisting that there was no justification for the government to pay for such debts, particularly when due diligence had not been followed. He said the situation was so bad that the official debt profile of TOR was not known. “We were made aware of the 2008 debt during the transitional period and under-recovery was explained as being the reason so we added it to this year’s budget,” he said. Dr. Donkor said the government was at its wits’ end as to the reasons for TOR’s huge debt profile, especially when the refinery had bank guarantees which could compel the OMC’s, debtors to pay. He disclosed that the government had paid 72 million dollars of the TOR debt for 2008. This amount, he explained, was paid in installments, with the last this month. Responding to a concern raised at a durbar about delays in paying this month’s salaries and appeals for government to intervene, Dr. Donkor told the workers that there was no justification for government’s intervention. “If you have bank guarantees sitting there like trophies and you cannot collect these debts, I have no moral right asking government to provide money for your salaries”, he said. The Managing Director of TOR, Dr. Kwame Ampofo, promised that the new management would turn the refinery round in 18 months through the recovery of its debts and prudent management. He expressed gratitude to government for its commitment to bringing TOR back to its “glorious days”. Dr. Donkor commended the Energy Commission for leading the way in developing policy frameworks which had stood the test of time and guided stakeholders in the sector in their activities. He said the country as a whole had paid lip-service to policy, adding “We have often concentrated only on operational issues but the commission has come to fill this gap.” Dr. Alfred Ahenkorah, Executive Secretary of the Commission, stressed the need for efficient energy use. He said the import of refrigerators not meant for Ghana’s tropical condition was not justifiable. At the GCMC, Mrs. Elizabeth Yawa Monney, the Managing Director, appealed for government support to enable the company to operate fully all year round. Source: Times