TOR workers want govt to redeem pledge

The demonstrating workers at the May Day Parade in Tema

WORKERS of the Tema Oil Refinery (TOR) on Tuesday vent out their frustrations at government’s failure to fulfill its pledge to recapitalise the refinery as parts of its strategies to resuscitate the company’s operations.

The workers, who thronged the Greater Accra Regional May Day celebrations at Tema in their numbers, had also called for an immediate dissolution of the company’s Board of Directors (BOT).

Carrying placards with inscriptions, “TOR needs a working capital to survive”, “Woyome May Day”, “dissolve the gargantuan chopping board”, “TOR’s board is a strain of its operations,” We need some Woyome money to resuscitate TOR”, “why no crude oil at TOR, when the Jubilee fields are producing,” “is the Jubilee fields not for Ghana?”, “Allow TOR to continuously to refine”, “MOE; let transparency rule in the oil industry”, “where is the $200 million you promised, Mr President” amongst others.

Amid singing and chanting, the workers resolved to embark on an industrial unrest to press home their demands.

They also described Tuesday’s start up of the Crude Distillation Unit (CDU) plant, which has been inactive following a shutdown for a month ago, as a result of the unavailability of crude oil for production as politically motivated, meant to divert attention from the core challenges at stake.

According to the local union, the refinery’s board had not played any useful role in the management of the company’s operations since they assumed office some three years ago.

The CDU and the Residual Fluid Catalytic Cracker (RFCC) were shutdown simultaneously on March 11, this year, making the shutdown three in a row, since the first quarter of 2012.

The vice chairman of the Senior Staff Workers Union, Mr Daniel Fugar, told the Daily Graphic that the union was of the view that there is disparity between the board’s policy direction and that of management.

 “That, we believe, was affecting coordination between the two, leading to the strings of failures and setbacks, the refinery have suffered in its operations,” Mr Fugar said.

The RFCC, he said, is yet to come on stream, as the CDU is yet to begin processing the crude oil.

According to him, the company has since January this year conducted three shutdowns, with the latest start up being the third in a row within the same period, due to the same reason of unavailability of crude oil.

He queried why board members should still be receiving allowances when the core business they have been mandated to provide policy direction to ensure its functionality was in a state of coma, awaiting death.

The refinery’s management, which began a process to secure letters of credit (LCs) in March this year, for some 650, 000 barrels of crude oil, which was being held in its storage facilities for Sahara Oil, were only able to raise the money as of yesterday (Monday).

Uncertainty, however, hangs on an additional 600, 000 barrels, currently on board TOR’s Nippon Princess vessel at the Tema Port, and workers believe the plants might be shutdown for the fourth time should management fail to secure additional LCs to deliver the crude oil.

SOURCE: Della Russel Ocloo, Daily Graphic, Thur May 3, 2012