THE multi-million dollar gas processing plant at Bonyere in readiness for the first natural gas from the Jubilee Field in the Western Region has received the full backing of landowners and chiefs from Nzemaland.
This followed an initial protest by farmers after they were said to have been misinformed by an NGO that a chunk of their land would be taken and crops destroyed without appropriate compensation paid to them.
The communities were said to have acted on that after a survey at the project site in Bonyere indicated that some individual farms would be affected and started to demonstrate against the establishment of the plant.
But at a meeting with the Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC), the Ministry of Energy, chiefs and the district assembly at the weekend, the people said, “We have rescinded our earlier protest against the commencement of work and we do not want the project to be relocated to another district.”
The project, which is registered with the Environmental Protection Agency, will address issues such as environmental and social impact assessment studies for the offshore aspect of the project to be carried out by Continental Shelf Associates.
Also the resettlement framework policy study contract which will take care of the environmental and social management framework study has been awarded.
For his part, the Deputy Minister of Energy, Mr Emmanuel Kofi Arma Buah, who brokered the deal, said the aim of the government was to protect the interest of the country and the people living in the area.
He said the natural gas project would generate employment and create new infrastructure to support a vibrant petroleum and petrochemical industry in the country.
The deputy minister said the commercialisation of the gas would also provide a new economic growth pole for the country and proposed a local co-ordinating team to support the project.
For their part, the chiefs and people said Western Nzema was not against investment in the area or any part of the region; rather what happened was due to miscommunication.
The Omanahen of the Western Nzema Traditional Area, Awulae Annor Adjae, expressed disappointment at the action and called on all to ensure peace and to support the project.
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