Senior Staff of the Tema Oil Refinery (TOR) have unanimously backed the government’s decision to lease the refinery to Torentco Asset Management Group for six years, for $22 million.
According to the Chairman of the TOR Senior Staff Union, Bright Adongo, the move is essential to bring the refinery back on its feet and prevent its potential collapse.
Speaking in an interview on Eyewitness News, Adongo emphasized the numerous benefits of leasing the refinery.
“The benefit is enormous, security-wise, economic wise and it makes sense that you are keeping jobs and all that. If you get a running refinery and there are wars somewhere and you cannot get the finished product, you can bring your crude oil from the fields, process and transform it to get the economy running,” he added.
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Adongo further revealed that the refinery faced significant challenges, including high debt to utility companies, a limited number of product storages (20 out of 59), and stagnant worker salaries for the past five years.
In response to concerns about the possibility of the company running down the refinery, Adongo expressed confidence that private businessmen would not invest in a facility to cause its deterioration. He believed that the strategic partner would focus on fixing the necessary issues to ensure the refinery’s proper functioning.
“If they are to run the plant down definitely then the plant cannot deliver as it has to. If you are a private man, your intention is to fix those items that need to be fixed. So obviously I don’t see a private man who would want to take over a facility and make a significant investment, and he will want to break the plant down,” he added.
Under the agreement, Torentco will pay an annual rent of $1 million and an additional monthly rent of $1.067 million. The move is expected to revive the refinery and contribute to fuel security in Ghana while stabilizing the national currency.
