Tullow interacts with six coastal communities in W. Region
Some residents from six coastal districts in the Western Region have commended international oil companies for instituting stakeholder engagements that ensure periodic interactions among them to facilitate information sharing and promote development.
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They made the observation in Takoradi after a two-day round of engagements with Tullow Ghana Limited, the lead operator of the Jubilee and Tweneboah, Enyera and Ntomme (TEN) independent oilfields.
The stakeholder engagements targeted residents of Sekondi, Takoradi and Shama, all coastal communities.
The residents stressed the need for regular engagements which they said would enable them to have current information about the operations and itinerary of the oil companies since the fishermen also operated within the same maritime space.
Stakeholder engagement
The two-day stakeholder engagement focused on issues of mutual concern to the assemblies, fishermen, the communities and Tullow Oil as a corporate entity.
The Social Performance Manager of Tullow Oil, Mr Kwasi Boateng, said the engagement formed part of its quarterly engagement with the stakeholders.
The company used the opportunity to educate the communities about their operations and encouraged them to continue to coexist.
Tullow, he said, was committed to engaging and informing the people, in accordance with its value of shared prosperity for the people in its operational area of the region, as well as “keeping the company’s social licence”.
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Collaboration
Mr Boateng said it was through such engagements that the company was able to foster closer collaboration with the communities to avoid any information asymmetry.
He explained that operating in the maritime space came with a lot of safety requirements, such as strict respect for safety zones.
“Therefore, as we engage and share with them, they share with us concerns in their respective districts, municipal and metropolitan areas,” he said.
Assembly members
The assembly members, who spoke on behalf of the residents, urged Tullow Oil and the industry to do more to create the environment that provided for local content support and more social investment programmes such as education.
That, they contended, would ensure that some contracts could be extended to enterprises in the region for job opportunities for the indigenes.
The metropolitan chief executive, Shama district chief executive and assembly members attended the separate sessions for the Sekondi/Takoradi Metropolitan Assembly and Shama District.
Each of the districts also saw representatives from the Fishermen Council, Ghana Maritime Authority, Fisheries Commission and the Petroleum Commission.