I’ll liase with oil experts for growth — Darko-Mensah

THE Member of Parliament (MP) for Takoradi Constituency, Mr Kwabena Okyere Darko-Mensah has said he would liaise with experts in the oil industry to put in place measures to manage the inflow of people to the constituency and its related problems.
He said oil boom in many countries had bred corruption, underdevelopment, social conflict and damaged the environment which must serve as lessons for us in Ghana.
Speaking to the Daily Graphic, Mr Darko-Mensah said “even as we give examples of oil troubled countries like Nigeria, we must also consider the likes of Scotland who have use the oil in their country to accelerate national development.”
“There is a need for transparent revenues payment practices, open and competitive contract bidding, and participation of the community in the oil business.”
Mr Darko-Mensah said the creation of a website for the constituency to collate data that would be needed for policy formulation and provide vital information was under way.
He said the lack of information in some oil rich countries had been identified as one of the challenges these countries face.
He stressed further that when policies are formulated and made known to all stakeholders, it would prevent fraudulent people from entering the market thereby allowing trustworthy individuals to do businesses that would create the enabling environment for other businesses to flourish.
Mr Darko-Mensah again told the Daily Graphic that a data would also be collated on all investment potential in the constituency which would later be linked to potential investors who would be interested in investing in the constituency.
The MP mentioned to the Daily Graphic that one of his topmost priorities at the moment was to put in place structures that would help the youth in the constituency get employable skills to take them off the street.
“We must create other educational and vocational opportunities aside the universities and the polytechnics for those who are unable to make good grades to enter into the universities and polytechnics,” he said.