The Management of Tema Oil Refinery has bemoaned the situation where some persons peddle falsehoods and inaccurate stories about the refinery, its management and operations to satisfy their own selfish and parochial interest.
A statement signed by the Public Affairs Manager, Dr. Kingsley Antwi-Boasiako noted that the situation where certain individuals hide behind their institutions and quickly run to the media with untruths and malicious information about TOR just to court attention and win believability from the public is negatively affecting the good works of the current management as it strides to put the company on sound footing.
The statement comes at the back of a recent press release issued by the Institute for Energy Security which alleged that there is leadership crisis, factionalism and mismanagement at TOR, and that lack of due diligence is causing financial loss to the state.
In his reaction, Dr Kingsley Antwi-Boasiako stated that: "For the avoidance of doubt, we wish to state that there is no leadership crisis at TOR and that management and the staff of the refinery are all working in unison to carry out the core mandate of the refinery; refining crude oil into finished petroleum products. The MD, Isaac Osei is on good terms with the General Managers and the Managers as well as the entire staff of the refinery. We are therefore at a loss on the baseless claims by Mr Rockson that there is leadership crisis at TOR."
Dr. Antwi-Boasiako however added that it is the actions of the types of Mr. Richmond Rockson, a Principal Research Analyst of the Institute for Energy Security who signed the statement that could end up creating the so called 'factionalism' and sensationalism at the refinery.
Dr Antwi-Boasiako further condemned a portion of the statement by the IES which read that: "When persons with requisite capacity are sidelined for substandard people to run affairs, the results is chaotic."
The Public Affairs Manager for TOR said it is unfortunate for Mr Rockson to refer to any of the hardworking staff of the refinery as substandard, adding that these are the kind of things that rather create factionalism.
The statement further pointed out that Mr Rockson's press release is divisive and inimical to the growth of TOR, and its spirit is clearly intended to hurt the reputation of TOR.
Dr Antwi-Boasiako asked Mr Rockson not to allow himself to be used as a conduit for mischief by a few disgruntled individuals in the refinery who may feel threatened by the all welcoming managerial policies of the current MD, Isaac Osei.
"We are aware of the soft spot that Mr Richmond Rockson may have for the former administration of this refinery under which some of his friends and colleagues may have held certain positions. Although no major shakeup has been done to the management structure of the refinery, What Mr Rockson should know is that the information he may be receiving from some of these people may be borne out of parochial and selfish interest, and thus he must do well to clarify them before sending the information out to the public domain."
The statement further urged Mr Rockson to give true meaning to the motto of the Institute for Energy Security which is: Integrity, Excellence and Sustainability by desisting from peddling falsehoods and engage the management of the refinery anytime he needs clarification.