Former Power Minister, Dr. Kwabena Donkor is warning the government to tread cautiously with attempts to privatize the Tema Oil Refinery.
Staff of TOR have been agitating over what they term another shady deal with a subsidiary of Torentco to privatize the refinery.
Speaking to Starr News, Dr. Donkor argued the sorry state of TOR is as a result of the selfish interests of all stakeholders.
The Pru East MP called for a broader engagement in finding the appropriate solution to problems of the refinery established by Osagyefo Dr. Kwame Nkrumah, the first president of Ghana
“With the Torentco agreement, the Public Procurement Authority advised them to go back to the Ministry of Finance, the Public Private Partnership Division and reframe the approach because it did not meet the requirements of the PPA. This has not been done to the best of my knowledge.
So if they go back and come back under another cover, I can only caution them that they should be careful. Respect the laws of Ghana, respect the intelligence of the average Ghanaian. Yes TOR is in dying streams there is no doubt about that. But in an attempt to rescue it, must we engage in illegalities?” Dr. Donkor asked.
He continued: “For me, that is important, TOR is potentially viable. TOR has been the victim of gross mismanagement from policy makers, from the board and management of TOR and also from the workers, the Unions.”