Danger Looms Government as TOR Faces Imminent Shut Down Again

Tema Oil Refinery (TOR) will soon be shut down due to series of debt it owed to some utility providers.

It has emerged that the Ghana Water Company Limited (GWCL) last week had disconnected its service to the Tema Oil Refinery.

This is because TOR  is in debt to the service provider to the tune of about 4 million cedis in water bill as of March 2021.

This news outlet has gathered that the situation has forced the company to depend on its 11, 200 cubic meter water reservoir which is projected to run out in the next 72 hours after which the Refinery would not even have water to flush its toilets facility.

Workers told Soireenews that, the water cut to the Refinery puts TOR at high risk due to the flammable nature of the plant and also the fact that water is an essential need of the refinery since it is used to generate steam for the refinery and also for emergency fire fighting purposes.

Checks conducted has it that the Refinery as of March this year also owes the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) an amount of about GH¢2.3 million.

Also, TOR is in workers Provident fund arrears to the tune of about GH¢34 million.

This puts workers investment at risk. Workers who are due to access the fund are unable to access it due to the debt.

Again, we gathered that TOR is also in arrears of about 21 million Ghana Cedis in the payment of workers SSNIT tier one and two as of April 2021 and owes the Ghana Revenue Authority to the tune of about 85 million Cedis in taxes as of April this year.

According to workers of the Refinery, the plant could collapse anytime soon if nothing is done to reposition the Refinery as soon as possible.

Some workers who spoke to this reporter on condition of anonymity revealed that the current Managing Director (MD) is failing to see reason and make the plant viable as all suggestions made to him to get the Refinery on track proved futile.

They said they have tried to make the new MD understand the current state of the plant and find reason in turning it around to make it viable but he seems not to understand the business of the Refinery.

They complained that currently the Refinery is struggling to pay salaries of workers and pensioners due for pension are equally unable to access their end of year benefit due to the lack of funds in the company accounts.

Soireenews established that this year alone, the bank account of the company has been ganache on two occasions by the Ghana Revenue Authority.

The workers further complained that, in the face of all the numerous financial challenges the plant is facing, the MD continue to make political employment.

"We are struggling to pay workers salary, we are unable to pay our bills, and we do not know the future of this Refinery, yet our MD continues to do political employment," a worker said.

Meanwhile, the grade six worker being the lowest paid worker at the Tema Oil Refinery receives a take-home salary of Ghc 2,879 plus a mid-month salary allowance of GH¢700 and a fuel coupon of GH¢900 per month.

The workers believe that the current state of the refinery hinges on many things including the incompetent stewardship of the Managing Director, Francis Adu Tutu Boateng.

Currently, the Refinery has ceased refining as a tolling contract signed with Woodfields Energy Resources limited has been terminated with the MD unable to tell what is next for the Refinery in terms of where to get the next crude for refining.

Early this year, the Divisional workers Union within the Refinery petitioned the President to remove its MD and dissolve the current board on the grounds of incompetence as they are unable to point to any future prospects, opportunities, initiatives, negotiated agreement that could assure workers of a better future.

Freeman Koryekpor Awlesu, Greater Accra Regional Correspondent