ACEP's Press Statement On The President’s State Of The Nation Address Presented By Dr. Mohammed Amin Adam, A Press Conference In Accra
There are major problems that need to be resolved. And government is not coming clear on this. There are two escrows that the contractors are demanding – an escrow for the lease of the barges and another escrow for fuel supply. The contractor is going to lease the barges for 10 years and buy its own fuel but we need to provide guarantee for the fuel. We also know that GNPC has been asked to provide a guarantee of $100 Million. The deputy minister of power said last Saturday that this would cover the fuel security. Now how are we funding the lease guarantee? There will still be structural issues that need to be addressed even when the lease arrangement is completed. We need to establish the state of the machines, and prepare the place where they will be anchored offshore. The Tema site near the Fishing harbor is yet to be prepared for the mooring and operation of the plant. Experts say that this will be ready at best in the last quarter of 2015. We also need to work on the transmission interconnection. If these arrangements have not been factored into the timetable for deploying the barges, I am afraid, it may be a dream.