Workers at the faltering Tema Oil Refinery (TOR) have made an impassioned plea to President Akufo-Addo to reopen the refinery.
Workers say that after years of promises, the refinery remains in disrepair.
Bernard Owusu, Chairman of the General Transport and Chemical Workers Union, said the union would continue to put pressure on the government until TOR is reinstated.
“When you see the flames out, then you know that the refinery is working. Currently, we are only carrying finished products which is not the core mandate of the refinery. The refinery is supposed to get crude oil to refine.
“Sometimes it baffles our minds that as Ghanaians, we are getting crude here, and we can’t find crude oil to refine in our refinery, is a very serious matter that you, the media, and the Ghanaian out there should drum home. Please this is not only for workers of Ghana, this is the only refinery Osagyefo Dr. Kwame Nkrumah has been able to put down for us,” Mr. Owusu said.
TOR ceased operations some years ago due to a scarcity of crude oil, which serves as the refinery’s basic material.
Prior to its collapse, the refinery had the ability to process around 45,000 barrels of crude oil per day.
However, some stakeholders in the oil value chain are worried that the refinery’s non-operationalization is hurting the price of imported fuel.
