The President, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, has cut the sod for the construction of the US$25million Operational Head Office of the Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC) in Takoradi.

The office complex, which is expected to be completed within a two-year period will have seven-storeys, situated on a land area of 11680m2. Also, the building complex would have public spaces for a 300-seater auditorium, gymnasium, cafeteria and a business center on the ground floor. The upper floors will accommodate private office spaces for GNPC and for lease to prospective tenants.

In compliance with government’s policy of ensuring smart energy efficiency, the office complex is designed with solar ingress and wind direction.

“Upon completion, the building is expected to attain LEED certification, which measures building standards to assess their compliance with ‘all-in-one’ address of energy efficiency, water conservation, site selection, material selection, day lighting and waste reduction,” President Akofo-Addo said this at the ceremony.

“But for COVID-19, the project would have been on an advance stage; I have urged the contractor to complete the project on time and within budget as well as use local labour,” he said.

Freddy Blay, Chairman of the Board of Directors of GNPC explained that the decision to relocate GNPC’s operational Head Office to Takoradi was as a result of a manifesto pledge made by the President in 2016 and his vision to restore and enhance GNPC’s presence in the Western Region.

“Further to the President’s pledge, the GNPC Board took a decision to set up the GNPC Foundation in Takoradi, to spearhead Corporate Social Investment initiatives. This was a deliberate strategy to ensure that even though the Foundation has a national scope, the socio-economic, educational, and training needs of the people of the Western region received special focus,” he further explained.

He indicated that, since the GNPC Foundation was established in 2017, it has provided infrastructure to the benefit of Ghanaians across the country.

He said: “Today, we are happy to say that, since the establishment of the Foundation and through GNPC’s Corporate Social Investment initiatives, the Western Region has received its fair share of infrastructure in the provision of classroom blocks, science laboratories, astro turfs, sanitation blocks, tertiary scholarships as well as provision of potable water among others.”

This, he said was GNPC’s contribution to bridging the developmental gaps in the Western Region and beyond.

“Based on the leadership of the President, the Western Region has benefited immensely from the oil find and the operations of GNPC. Key benefits include the provision of potable water, road projects, educational and sanitary facilities,” he added.

In a bid to ensure that, oil revenues act as a catalyst to the growth of the economy, Mr. Blay said the GNPC Board has approved funding for bitumen surfacing of roads in the gas enclave area in the Western Region.

He pointed out that these roads when completed, are expected to serve as crucial link for the evacuation of oil and gas products, and the transportation of critical personnel in the oil and gas value chain. He expressed gratitude to Kwabena Okyere Darko-Mensah, Western Regional Minister and the Lands Commission for their tremendous assistance in securing the land for the project.

In a related development, the President has commissioned an ultra-modern office complex and hostel facilities for the Western Regional House of Chiefs, constructed and furnished by the GNPC Foundation in Sekondi. He also inspected and also cut the sod for the construction of some key gas enclave roads being constructed by the Department of Feeder Roads and the Ministry of Roads and Highways all funded by GNPC.