The Chief Executive of National Petroleum Authority(NPA) Alex Mould has hinted that Tema Oil Refinery will collapse if the TOR debt is not paid down.
According to him, the TOR debt which as from 2008 was 1.5 billion was as a result of governments’ interference in the pricing of Tema Oil Refinery, promising subsidies which was never paid.
Speaking on Asempa FM’s Ekosii Sen programme, the NPA boss said the TOR debt recovery levy has been increased to enable NPA get more money to pay the debt stressing “we need the TOR debt recovery levy to pay down this debt. If this debt is not paid down Tema Oil Refinery will not be able to continue in existence”.
He added that “the TOR debt arose because you and I did not pay the right price of fuel because of government interference”.
He noted that they have been able to collect 120 million Ghana cedis from 2009 and 2010 of the TOR debt recovery levy and has pay down 445million Ghana cedis of the TOR debt.
He questioned what the NPP did with the about 600 million Ghana cedis TOR debt recovery levy they collected from 2002 to 2008, adding that “there has been no accountability of the previous administration as to what they money was used for”.
He explained that, if the NPP had used the 600 million Ghana cedis TOR debt recovery levy they collected to pay down the debt which was less than 300 million “we would not be in this position”.
Meanwhile, Benjamin Kofi Aye, NPP MP for Upper Denkyira West, who was also a panelist on the programme challenged the NDC government to come clear on the right figure of the TOR debt at the time the NPP left Office.