TOR Board is competent – Management rejects contrary claims by staff

Management of Tema Oil Refinery (TOR), has debunked claims by the workers of the Refinery that the current Board has made no significant contribution to the growth of the company.

The current Board has made enough progress including “payment of TOR’s outstanding GHS1 billion debt that accrued between 2009 and 2016,” a statement signed by Dr. Kingsley Antwi-Boasiako, the Corporate and Public Affairs Manager of TOR insisted.

“The payment was made by the current Nana Akufo-Addo government as part of support to TOR. A further US$67m of the debt carried over from 2009 to 2016 has also been paid by the Government. The Board and Management of TOR continue their efforts to clear the debts that were left,” the statement added.

Workers protest

On Wednesday, the workers of TOR staged a peaceful protest at the company’s premises and gave the President a one-week ultimatum to dissolve their over its incompetent management of the refinery.

They also said that, aside from the minimal production that goes on in the refinery as and when there is a contract, there hasn’t been any major production for close to two years hence their call for members on the board to be sacked.

Management of Tema Oil Refinery, however, defended the Board.

The leadership of the company further touted some achievements by the Board.

“Under the administration of the current Board, TOR has been able to successfully carry out its long-overdue shutdown maintenance. The shutdown maintenance has improved the efficiency and availability of the processing plants and led to reduction in losses, improvement in product yields and financial performance. This is evidenced by the recent continuous processing of up to 8 million barrels of crude oil at the refinery since September 2019.”

It however blamed the challenges of the company on the COVID-19 pandemic.

“The COVID-19 pandemic has had a profound impact on the global refinery industry and TOR hasn’t been spared either. Restrictions on movement (via land and especially by air) have greatly reduced the demand of petroleum products. Therefore, refineries all over the globe have had to reduce their
throughputs and in many cases refineries in America, Europe and Asia have had to shut down. That notwithstanding, the Management of TOR has held on to its workforce during these extremely difficult times, even though the financial impact of the COVID-19 pandemic has been felt across the globe and in many cases with devastating impact to businesses,” the statement added.

On the Collective Bargaining Agreement which occasioned the protest following a request by the management of TOR to defer negotiations, the management of the company assured: “the TOR Unions that it values the CBA negotiations and will thus continue to engage them in the interest of Tema Oil Refinery and its cherished staff.”

Please find below the full statement: