A lecturer has called on the Government to help train young people in new technologies so they could use the acquired technological know-how to accelerate the pace of development.

Dr Stephen Kudom Donyinah, a Senior Lecturer, Department of Chemical/Petroleum Engineering, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST), said the Government could invest in such new technologies by providing scholarships for young people to train abroad.

He said they could then come back and compete with foreign expatriates, working especially in the oil and gas sector, and take over from them in future.

Speaking on the topic: “Engineering and Technological Challenges of the Oil and Gas industry in Ghana,” Dr Donyinah, who is also the College of Engineering Coordinator, Petroleum Engineering Programme, KNUST, said just as done in countries like Japan, government could also partner with training institutions in Ghana to help identify and select the right caliber of people to be trained for the purpose.

The Institute of ICT Journalism (Penplusbytes) held the Media and Civil Society forum in Accra as part of the ongoing “Empowering the Media to Play Active Watchdog Roles over Oil and Gas Revenue and Resources” project supported by STAR- Ghana. The forum was on the theme: “Assessing Oil and Gas in Ghana Governance and Accountability Framework”.

It brought together journalists and Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) with the aim of increasing oil and gas information and knowledge exchange, leading to opportunities for national dialogue on key oil and gas revenue management issues. It is also to ensure better understanding of relevant issues in the oil and gas industry for better advocacy, networking and partnership building.

Dr Donyinah said it was the responsibility of government to initiate the way of partnership with the private sector to invest in the young intelligent people and also help establish them in the various economies. He emphasized the need to pull “our energies together to help build the oil and gas sector so it could help provide the necessary support for the economy”.

Dr Donyinah also appealed to the National Service Secretariat to ensure that students who trained in oil and gas in the universities were posted to oil related companies for their national services so they could acquire hands-on experience that could prepare them for the sector.

Key speakers at the forum included Mr Victor Brobbey, Legal Researcher, Centre for Democratic Development -Ghana, who made a presentation on the topic; Transparency of the Revenue Act and Dr Steve Manteaw, Co-chairman, Ghana Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative, who spoke on “Assessing Oil and Gas in Ghana Governance and Accountability Framework: the Role of Extractive Industries Transparency Initiatives”.

Major Daniel Abloh (Rtd), Chairman of the Public Interest and Accountability Committee, also spoke on the topic: “Implementation of Oil and Gas Transparency Framework-The Role of PIAC”