The Managing Director of the Ghana Gas Company Limited, Dr. Ben Asante has said that as part of the company’s move to indigenize its operations, it has replaced Chinese expatriates running its Atuabo plant with local engineers.
According to him, this move has saved the company some $3 million in operation costs every month.
He revealed this when he took his turn at the State of the Agencies Report, a regular press engagement platform created by the State Interests and Governance Authority (SIGA) in collaboration with the Ministry of Information in Accra yesterday.
He disclosed that Ghana Gas after incorporation in July 2011 went through a period of construction of infrastructure. At the end of November 2014, the projects were completed and went through a period of commissioning which took about a period of 6 months.
Dr. Asante added that by the end of April 2015, the plant was fully commissioned and the pipelines and was being operated by the Chinese.
“We like to work with the Chinese, but we didn’t want to stay with them for too long. Indigenous Ghanaian engineers and technicians took over the operations of this plant. I have worked in this industry for 31 years and this is the first time I’ve seen such a turnaround, having foreign operators cede operatorship to indigenous engineers and technicians in the shortest time which is 3 years. Whiles we are at it, we save $3 million a month because that is how much we pay the Chinese a month,” he said.
In addition to the company’s indigenization drive, Dr. Asante said his outfit has over the years contributed to developing a highly trained and motivated world class workforce full of local engineers and technicians capable of sustaining the petrochemical industry to play a pivotal role in accelerating the development of Ghana’s economy.
This he assured that with the much-needed transformation, Ghana Gas is poised to establish itself as a reliable supplier of lean gas, condensate, and Liquified Petroleum Gas (LPG) by putting in place the best technology and technical management methods to ensure availability of its resources to the service of the Ghanaian industry.
Source: MOI (PR Unit)
