President John Dramani Mahama has lauded Organised Labour for the understanding and support it has shown over the years through constructive wage negotiations.

He noted that for the first time in recent years, Government and Organised Labour concluded the 2016 wage base pay and national daily minimum wage in historic time.

President Mahama gave the commendation when he addressed members of various labour unions at this year’s May Day celebration held in Wa on Sunday.

“Accept my commendation for your part in growing a formidable tripartite constituency needed for consensus building towards peaceful co-existence and national development”, he said.

President Mahama stated that as a result of the structural reform that was being carried out, Ghana’s economy was expected to grow in leaps and bounds in the coming years.

“This has been achieved by our collective effort and sacrifice, and the benefit of this economic rejuvenation will aid shared gains to the benefit of all”, he assured.

He recalled that a year ago, the country was experiencing a severe shortfall in power supply, but indicated that currently the situation had improved dramatically.

“We are not only working to secure a strategic reserve margin to ensure a strong, frequent and adequate power supply but we are also diversifying sources of fuel for power generation”, he added.

President Mahama said he had recently cut sod in Sanzule in the Ellembelle District of the Western Region, for the commencement of work on the Offshore Cape Three Points (OCTP) side where ENi Ghana and its partners were investing over seven billion dollars in oil production.

He said Even before work had commenced, about 150 people from Sanzule Village and surrounding areas had already been employed on the project.

“We are also investing in a floating storage re-justification unit to supply liquid natural gas to the thermal gas plant to guarantee security of gas supply”, he added.

The President further stated that the oil and gas enclave was being linked to the Eastern Thermal enclave in Tema to ensure sustainable supply of fuel whenever there were constraints from the West Africa Gas Pipe Line.

President Mahama said the second FPSO named after President John Evans Atta Mills of blessed memory had already arrived in the country, and would soon commence the production of oil and gas.

All these, he said, had become necessary as a result of the unreliability of power generated from hydroelectric dams due to the effects of climate change.

While conceding that thermal power is significantly more expensive than power generated from hydroelectric sources, President Mahama also indicated that in spite of the high cost, “dunsor” was not an option.

"If government must continue to grow the country’s economy for social transformation, it would be dependent on the availability of power on a sustainable basis", he indicated.