The Parliamentary Committee on Mines and Energy has expressed its concerns about the reported yawning gaps in remunerations or compensations between Ghanaians and expatiates who perform similar duties.
In its report on the annual report and financial statement of the Petroleum Commission for the year period, January to December, 2016, the Committee however, urged the Commission to “continuously engage the international oil companies to ensure that the differences in compensations are reduced to the barest minimum.
Meanwhile, a member of the Committee who spoke to me, (the reporter) on condition of anonymity, mentioned that the practice is normal in many jurisdictions.
According to him, “an engineer who is an expatriate will get expatriate allowance in addition to his monthly salary which a Ghanaian engineer (local) will not get”.
But he was quick to add that, what the committee was against is the gap, stressing that “when an expatriate gets 8,000.00 the local person should not get a mere 3,000.00 or 4,000.00″.
On employment in the Upstream Petroleum Industry, the Committee observed an upward trend in the engagement of locals in the upstream petroleum industry during the period under review.
According to the report, “a total of 12, 183 individuals were engaged in the industry comprising 863 expatriates and 11, 320 Ghanaians, representing 93%.
This further indicates a remarkable growth of 130.8% compared to the 2015 engagement of 4,905 Ghanaians”.
Details of the engagement of the Ghanaians in 2016 revealed that out of the total 11,320 Ghanaians engaged in the industry, 1, 132 occupied Senior Management Positions, about 2,270 were in middle level Management whilst the remaining 7,930 are technicians, welders and sample catchers among others, the committee noted.
It, however, commended the Commission in ensuring that “more Ghanaians are engaged in the upstream petroleum industry and also commencing the Second phase of the Ghana Upstream Sector Internship Programme (GUSIP) to enable unemployed Ghanaian Graduates and technicians acquire practical experiences and vocational skills”.
The Committee however, observed that the total value of services for contracts awarded to both foreign and indigenous Ghanaian companies amounted to US$1.34billion in the year 2016. Out of this, US$434.3 million was awarded to indigenous Ghanaian companies while US$908.14million was awarded to foreign companies.
Story by Edzorna Francis Mensah
