Posted on: www.dailyguideghana.com
By William Yaw Owusu
Thursday, November 26, 2015
Information reaching BUISNESS GUIDE indicates
that Maritime Dockworkers Union (MDU) of the Trades Union Congress (TUC) has
officially notified the Attorney General of its intention to file a suit to stop
the Atuabo Freeport project, which is currently under construction.
In July 2014, Parliament approved an
agreement between the Government of Ghana and British company Lonrho Ports for
the development of an oil and gas free port at Atuabo.
Interestingly, Clause 7 of the agreement
barred Takoradi Port from further expanding its facilities for oil and gas
until Lonrho builds its freeport, recovers all its costs and makes enough
profit.
MPs Suit
This compelled five MPs namely Kwaku
Kwarteng of Obuasi West, Hawa Koomson of Awutu Senya East Joseph Cudjoe of
Effia, Kwabena Okyere Darko-Mensah of Takoradi and Kofi Brako of Tema Central
to file a suit at the High Court to challenge the legality of the establishment
of the Atuabo Free Port but it was dismissed by the court.
The five MPs described the clause as
illegal and hoped the Accra High Court will intervene and stop the deal but
Justice Peter Kwabena Ababio reminded the applicants that the country’s
democratic process had adopted the separation of powers among the three arms of
government with checks and balances.
The judge said parliament, in approving
the agreement, did not violate any constitutional provision, saying it went
through the process according to the Standing Orders of the House.
An appeal against the ruling is said to
be pending at the Court of Appeal.
MDU Action
In the process, the MDU entered the fray,
expressing its reservations about the entire project and said it was ready to
file a suit because the restrictions in the Oil and Gas Freeport Project
Commercial Agreement for the Atuabo Freeport are inconsistent with the laws
that set up the Ghana Ports and Habours Authority (GPHA), which is the sole
body to regulate ports.
A notice sent to the AG on November 3,
2015 by MDU’s solicitors Opoku and Associates said “I have been instructed by
my client to serve this notice of civil action on you, the AG in accordance
with section 10 of the State Proceedings Act, 1998 (Act 555).
It said that the President by a notice in
the Ghana gazette of June 26, 2013, declared some parcels of land as the Atuabo
Freeport in accordance with section 7 of the Free Zones Act, 1995, adding “subsequently,
the government of Ghana has proceeded to sign ‘Ghana Oil and Gas Freeport
Project Commercial Agreement with Atuabo Freeport Ghana Limited to develop and
operate the Atuabo Free Port.”
“It is only under the Ghana Ports and
Habours Authority Act, 1986 (PNDCL 160) that any port can be created in Ghana, once
created, the port comes under the regulatory oversight of the GPHA.”
According to the MDU, “The Free Zones
only allows the President to declare an existing port a Freeport, the creation
of Atuabo Freeport under the Free Zones Act without first creating a port under
PNDCL 160 is wrongful and illegal.”
The union said it would seek an order
that the development and operations of the Atuabo Freeport be subjected to the
oversight functions of the GPHA.
They also want a declaration that Clause
7 of the Oil and Gas Freeport Project Commercial Agreement is inconsistent with
PNDC Law 160.
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