By P. K. Yankey
Half-Assini (W/R), July 07, GNA – The Jomoro Development Agenda has welcomed the Government’s 12-billion-dollar agreement to roll-out the Petroleum Hub Development Project in the Jomoro Municipality.
This followed an agreement signed between the Government of Ghana and TCP-UIC Consortium for the much awaited first phase of the Petroleum Hub project.
The entire hub project is estimated to cost US$ 60 billion.
Mr Mark Asmah Arthur, the Leader, Jomoro Development Agenda, at a news conference at Half-Assini in the Western Region, said Jomoro was praying that in the next few months, the rest of US$ 48 billion would also be signed to achieve the full realisation of the project.
The hub is expected to create 780,000 direct and indirect jobs, which would offer the youth technical and managerial positions for the transformation of Nzema.
Mr Arthur conveyed the gratitude of the Paramount Chief of Western Nzema Traditional Council, Awulae Annor Adjaye, traditional rulers and people of the Western Nzema Traditional Area to government for the “steadfastness and determination to ensuring that Jomoro becomes the Rotterdam of Africa and the major trading grounds for petroleum and petrochemical products”.
“The people of Jomoro know the enormous benefits that come with a project of this kind, spanning from changing our agrarian local economy to a more robust, civilised and commerce-driven economy that will positively affect the livelihood of every individual in our municipality”.
Mr Asmah Arthur said the people of Jomoro had not been short-changed or mistreated by the Government and that the people were aware of the countless engagements with the Government institutions such as the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Land Use and Spatial Planning (LUSPA), Lands Commission, Ministry of Energy, Petroleum Hub Development Corporation, with key stakeholders at the community levels and in strategic planning meetings.
Mr Arthur said based on the goodwill of the Government to establish the project in the area, they had accepted that individual farms be surveyed and now waiting for their deserved compensations and local content benefits that came in the form of jobs for the youth, training, better state of the art social amenities and overall human resource development.
He appealed to the Nzemas to cooperate to win the project than to become saboteurs to shoot themselves in the foot.
Mr Arthur clarified that the land size earmarked for the project was just 20,000 acres out of the entire 543,000 acres of land of Jomoro.
He said Malaysia’s oil hub is sited on 22,000 acres of land with the same infrastructure.
The Rotterdam Petroleum Hub is sited on 34,000 acres of land.
“A number of training centers have been earmarked for the training of youth for Jomoro and Nzemaland including the Takoradi Technical University (TTU), Kikam Technical Institute (KIMTECH) and the Half-Assini Technical School.”
The project is expected to drive a significant development positioning Jomoro to play a pivotal role in maximising the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP).
GNA