The workers of the Tema Oil Refinery (TOR) have expressed fear over the possible collapse of the entity because of the decision that has been taken by the Board of Directors (BOD) to increase the wage bill of the company, which has not refined crude oil since 2018.
The Chronicle can report that the current Board has created more Managers and General Managers as it has increased the number from nine to 24, as of October 1, 2024.
And by the latest restructuring, a dormant and small department like the Waste-Water Treatment Plant has three managers.
The restructuring, The Chronicle can report, has ignited tension between the workers and the Board.
The action has made some of the workers angry and accused the Board of putting its cronies at specific positions to rape the refinery’s scarce funds and silence the workers.
According to the workers, they cannot understand why, for instance, a business Development Manager would be transferred to the plant as a Shift Manager, when the plant has been idle for years.
Expressing worry over how the Board has rendered experienced managers like the Material Manager redundant, by making him a Shift Manager, other managers have been assigned to new roles that they do not have knowledge about.
Questioning the motive of the restructuring, the unhappy workers told The Chronicle that the alleged vindictive move by the Board is to satisfy their cronies, sycophants and boot lickers.
“It is surprising that government is silent in the face of the abuse of power at TOR, where the Board now runs the day-to-day activities of the refinery, because to the best of our knowledge, the Board is now micro-managing TOR, leaving their mandate of policy formulation, because they want to smuggle an entity which cannot partner TOR.
“The workers of TOR wish to bring to the notice of the President of Ghana, Civil SocietyOrganisation (CSOs) and the general public that despite all the challenges TOR has been going through, some members of the Board have decided to collapse the refinery. This is creating disaffection and despondency and may create massive resignations of highly skilled workers,” some staff told The Chronicle.
Efforts made by this reporter to reach out to the Board of Directors proved futile, as he (reporter) was not allowed entry into the main yard of the refinery.
Though the reporter showed his ID Card to the security man as a Chronicle reporter, and that he wanted to speak to Board members, he was told that per new instructions, they (security) should not allow the media access to the refinery.
