Petroleum Hub head office will be sited in Jomoro – CEO

Beyin: Plans are far advanced to situate the head office of the emerging Petroleum Hub Development Corporation (PHDC) in the Jomoro Municipality.The project would also have a coordinating office in Accra.The move forms part of measures to ensure that Jomoro was prioritized in terms of employment to people within the catchment area.Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Petroleum Hub Development Corporation (PHDC), Dr Charles Owusu announced this at a stakeholder engagement meeting of the Petroleum Hub Development Project at Beyin in the Jomoro Municipality of the Western Region.The stakeholder engagement brought together landowners, farmers, Chiefs, PHDC, land valuation board, lands commission agents, officers from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), security agencies and the media to streamline issues pertaining to the emerging Petroleum Hub industry.Dr Owusu said the PHDC had developed an employment App on the project where prospective applicants would log in their employment details.He sai d the PHDC would embark upon a Sensitisation exercise on the project in September after the groundbreaking ceremony by His Excellency, President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo in August.The PHDC would then take potential applicants through a rigorous training on how to apply through the Employment App in October this year.Dr Owusu stressed the need for Assembly Members to develop a database for prospective applicants in Jomoro with respect to the Local Content Policy.The CEO said as part of training the required manpower for the Petroleum Hub Development Project, the government had earmarked the Kikam Technical Institute (KIMTECH), the Half-Assini Senior Technical School (HASTS) and the Takoradi Technical Institute (TTI) as training centers.He said the project was a Public-Private Partnership with potential investors and maintained that the PHDC would feed the private company with employees taking the local content policy into consideration.The Member of Parliament (MP) for Jomoro, Madam Dorcas Afo-Tof fey urged the government to commence the Petroleum Hub Project this year after clearing the land and sod-cutting ceremony.She said the project would inure to the benefits of Jomoro and help meet some developmental challenges such as the deplorable road network.Madam Afo-Toffey expressed her full support for the project adding that 'the project should be devoid of the politics of NDC and NPP.The Jomoro Municipal Chief Executive (MCE), Madam Louisa Iris Arde said employment was the backbone to development and called on people in Jomoro to embrace the project.She cautioned the detractors who kicked against the Ghana National Gas Company at its initial feasibility studies in Jomoro before relocated to Ellembelle, to halt the practice.Madam Iris Arde noted that a lot of jobs abound in their neighbouring District, Ellembelle and appealed to people in Jomoro to welcome the project.Source: Ghana News Agency