WE'LL COEXIST -- TULLOW (BACK PAGE)

“We will coexist, Tullow assure fishermen”
Story: Moses Dotsey Aklorbortu, Shama
Tullow Oil has assured fishermen that, its offshore operations will not mean the end of their centuries old job that had fed the country and its people for ages.
At a public hearing at Shama and Sekondi/Takoradi districts of the Western Region, officials took time to explain to the fishermen that they could go about their fishing expedition without any difficulties.
The officials said, what was important is coexistence to ensure that Tullow and the fishermen in their chosen fields contributed to the development of the country.
Speaking to a large crowd made up of the fishermen groups and representatives of all other sectors of the local economy, Mr Kofi Esson, Government and External Affairs Officer for Tullow Oil said they had put enough measures in place to ensure that no accident occurred.
He said the public hearing was important because it afforded the stakeholders the opportunity iron out issues for clarity and understanding of one another.
With regard to fishermen, he said they had created safety zones that would guide the fishermen to ensure that their operation did not create any problem.
“Therefore my brothers and sister, we at Tullow did not want you to think that the discovery and the operations offshore would mean that the end of your activities,” he said.
Mr Esson said “we are very much aware that our families and the country as a whole, in fact all of us depended on your catch to make our meal complete as well as the income that you derive from it.”
He said the hearing was mainly to tell the stickholders in the maritime domain and the country as whole that even problems with spillage and others hardly occur, there were measures to ensure that any unexpected was tackled within the shortest possible time.
“We can assure you that, Tullow and other members of the group are very conscious of our image as a company. We will ensures very high standard of safety for life, protect and respect local and international rules governing the industry,” he said.
“We want to assure you that should anything happen, we have enough insurance that would to compensate the victims, but we will like to emphasize that we have in place a high safety standards,” he said.
The fishermen who spoke at the hearing thanked Tullow for the opportunity and the time to explain to remove their fears.
They also assure the company that they would do everything possible to ensure that they both operated peacefully at sea, “We also want to thank you for rescuing some of out members who had accident at sea,” they said.
Others in the areas agriculture and with technical skills urged the company to buy their produce and if possible they should invite investors in refinery and other oil related areas to relocate into the region.
Some participants also lauded the corporate social responsibilities of the company and urged them to fulfill those promises to open up communities.