70% of work done on Saltpond field done by in-house technical team, Bawa
Ghana likely to enter another judgement debt, Bawa
Member of Parliament for Bongo Constituency, Edward Bawa, has alleged that a private consultancy firm is being hired by the Ghana National Petroleum Commission to perform the decommissioning of the Saltpond Field costing about $5 million.
He notes this is a challenge because an in-house technical team constituted by the company is undertaking the same task for free.
In a statement, Bawa said “GNPC contemplated the hiring of a Project Management Consultant for the decommissioning. Indeed, a tendering process was done and a consultancy firm was procured with approval from the Public Procurement Authority (PPA)."
Bawa further added that a memo sent to the office of the former CEO of the Corporation, Dr. K.K. Sarpong indicated that in-house technicians could equally execute the project since a lot of the work had been carried out by the in-house project team.
This he said will save the Corporation more than $5 million.
“Indeed, as we speak, about 70% of the work has been done by the in-house technical team made up of Alex Kwarteng (General Manager, Projects) and Albert Langdon-Nyewan (Deputy Manager, Reservoir). The selected company was, thus, prevailed upon to allow the GNPC to use in-house expertise to perform the task.”
He argued that “this needless expenditure” will be blocked during a work programme hearing slated for Tuesday, July 5.
Edward Bawa further laments the introduction of an external consultancy firm when the job could be executed internally.
The member of the Mines and Energy Committee of Parliament however predicts that this act by the GNPC could launch the country into another judgment debt.
“The question is, what is the motivation for this line of action? One thing is certain – GNPC is intending to spend $5 million on an activity that is being done by an in-house technical team.
“Besides, the original company that was procured for the Project Management Consultancy would definitely sue for procurement fraud and the country could be facing yet another judgment debt.
“At a time that the country is contemplating going to the International Monetary Fund for support, GNPC cannot afford to be wasteful,” Edward Bawa noted.
SSD/FNOQ
Edward Bawa is MP for Bongo