Dr. Steve Manteaw
Dr. Steve Manteaw

Ghana’s oil revenue inflow into the Heritage Fund has reached US$485,172,436.04 as at 2018, seven years after the country commenced commercial production of crude oil.

The nation’s Petroleum Revenue Management Act (PRMA) 2011, set the Ghana Heritage Fund to save oil revenues for future generations of Ghanaians.

But, the closing amount in the Ghana Stabilization Fund as at the end of 2018 was US$381.20 million, a report by the Public Interest and Accountability Committee (PIAC) has revealed.

The Stabilization Fund rather seeks to mitigate the negative effects of oil revenue volatility on the national budget and sustain public expenditure capacity in the unanticipated event of a revenue shortfall.

Speaking at a public forum to disseminate the 2018 annual report on the management and use of oil revenues held at Techiman in the Bono East Region, Dr. Steve Manteaw, the Chairman of PIAC said Ghana’s oil production had seen some improvements.

He observed the Stabilization Fund was largely not serving the purpose for which it was envisioned under the PRMA.

The country’s total crude oil production from the three producing fields – Jubilee, TEN and Sankofa Gye Nyame (SGN) jumped from 58,658,063.54 barrels in 2017 to 62,135,435.07 barrels in 2018.

Of the total outputs, Jubilee field produced 28,461,755 barrels, TEN field 23,557,361 barrels and SGN field 10,751,671 barrels.

Dr. Manteaw said a total of US$977,093,285 accrued to the Petroleum Holding Fund from Royalties, Carried and Participating Interest, Corporate Income Taxes and Surface Rentals.

He said the 2018 revenue constituted about a quarter of total receipts from 2011-2017, indicating the increased revenue was mainly due to drilling of more TEN wells, crude price rebound on the international market and the coming on stream of SGN Field production.

Dr. Manteaw expressed concern about the country’s over-reliance on the oil revenue to fund the free Senior High School Programme and called on the government to look for other alternative ways to augment funding to sustain the implementation of that laudable flagship educational programme.

Last year, he said an amount of GhC419, 871.012.44 representing an increase of 107.47 per cent over that of 2017 was channeled into physical infrastructure and service delivery in education.

The distribution to education in 2018 to the free SHS programme (goods and services) was 98.75 per cent while 125 per cent was on educational infrastructural facilities (public investment expenditure).

Source: www.ghanaweb.com

Kasa's efforts in restoring mangrove forests to mitigate coastal erosion

The Keta lagoon tragedy is still edged in the minds of residents who helplessly watched as the sea claimed their loved ones lives, their property and even robbed their gravesites. Now, all that’s left of a once thriving community is stumps of houses and sunken hopes evident by their scowled faces. This phenomenon is unfortunately becoming common along Ghana coastlines as the sea levels rise and take claim to lives, land and property.

One of the evidence of climate change is rising temperatures which impact the sea and oceans in various ways. One is melting polar ice which leads to expansion of oceans which in turn encroach on lands such as Keta. Secondly, the high temperatures which are stored in the water exacerbates water acidity which then degrades coral reefs and even mangroves; which act as sea defense. Cases such as Keta’s can be observed world over, in coastal areas.

The Government of Ghana has responded to this recurring disaster with measures to keep the sea at bay and relocation propositions for community members. Along  Ghana’s volta region and other coastal regions, one can observe sea defense systems protecting coastlines from strong tidal waves that cause erosion, flooding, amongst other hazards. These engineered structures are fortified to ensure durability and restoration of normally for coastal communities. However, as with most man made structures, there is a lifespan to such structures.  That is why organisations such as Kasa Initiative Ghana advocate for Nature based solutions such as planting of Mangroves.

Mangroves forests not only act as sea defense but perform as carbon sinks better than terrestrial forests. Additionally, their roots create an ecosystem for marine life to start and thrive. Marine creatures such as turtles and fish rely on this ecosystem for survival in initial life stages before venturing into the deep sea. Kasa with support from IUCN and Forestry commission sought  to restore mangrove in South Tongu District of the Volta Region. The exercise, done in collaboration with youth, women and men from the communities not only identified locations for restoration but also provided seedlings and carried out the planting. The initiative also engaged community members on the importance of mangrove forest in the environment and what it takes to ensure the forests reach maturity. 

 

In previous years, communities along the coastline in the Volta region were well barricaded from tidal waves by thinning mangrove forests. However, due to livelihood activities such as mangrove harvesting, the forests are now shrinking and far apart. Smoking of fish and other seafood is common in these areas with mangrove being the preferred source of firewood. Due to this, introduction of alternative livelihood is a key component to restoration efforts to avoid a recurrence of the current where firewood heaps are aligned along the coastline and in markets.