Appoint competent MD, bi-partisan board to fix TOR

The Ranking Member of the Mines and Energy Committee of Parliament, John Jinapor, is demanding the immediate appointment of a substantive Managing Director and a bi-partisan board for the Tema Oil Refinery (TOR).

Earlier this week, the Tema Oil Refinery (TOR), announced that it has queried and interdicted some of its staff pending the conclusion of investigations into the disappearance of fuel, product storage, and transfer losses at the refinery.

This was announced by an interim management committee, which was inaugurated in June 2021, to oversee the affairs of the company as part of the government’s efforts to restructure the company.

The investigations by the committee revealed a number of incidents relating to product storage and transfer losses, including but not limited to the disappearance of 105,927 litres of gas oil on 4th September 2021, which belongs to a BDC client.

“While the investigations are ongoing, we urge all staff to remain calm and be rest assured that investigations are being conducted in accordance with the due process of law. Anyone cleared in the process will be recalled from interdiction, while any form of liability will be dealt with in accordance with the law”.

But reacting to the issue on Eyewitness News, John Jinapor called for a change in the direction of the management of TOR.

He is thus demanding the immediate appointment of an MD and a bi-partisan board for the company.

According to him, that is the only way the fortunes of the company can be turned around for the better.

“The President must also with immediate effect, ensure that a substantive Managing Director (MD) is appointed and that a board is constituted; and I mean not a partisan board or a partisan parochial MD but a competent MD and a competent board that resuscitates TOR and bring it back its days of glory.”

Mr. Jinapor also complained about what had become of some of the interventions the erstwhile NDC government put in place for the company before leaving office in 2017.

According to him, some crude oil they bought for the company before leaving office had all been sold under some mysterious circumstances.

“When we were handing over, not only did we hand over money and assets, we even procured crude oil from the Ten fields for the refinery to process but those barrels of oil were sold under very mysterious circumstances.”

Meanwhile, the Minority in Parliament has said it will push for a parliamentary inquiry into the disappearance of fuel, product storage, and transfer losses at the TOR.

In a statement, it said it did not trust the government to conduct a transparent probe into the matter.

“The Minority wishes to serve notice that it will not sit unconcerned for Akufo-Addo/Bawumia government to plunge the only oil refinery in the country into comatose,” it stated.

“We, therefore, wish to serve notice that we shall, in the coming weeks, trigger the appropriate rules and processes for a full-scale parliamentary inquiry into this broad daylight thievery and embarrassing spectacle.”