Atuabo Gas project overpriced by $40m - Dr. Manteaw reveals

The Co-chair of the Ghana Extractive Industry Transparency Initiative (GHEITI), Dr. Steve Manteaw has alleged that the Atuabo Gas plant in the Western Region was overpriced by $40 million.

Dr. Steve Manteaw, who contends that SINOPEC, the Chinese company which executed the project, deliberately engaged in fraudulent activities.

Dr. Manteaw is reported to have disclosed that about $15 million out of the alleged $40 million has been recouped from the company.

All you need to know about Atuabo Gas Project

The Atuabo Gas Project was completed in 2014 and commissioned in 2015 under the erstwhile President John Mahama-led National Democratic Congress (NDC) administration.

The $1-billion government of Ghana project was started in July 2011, together with a natural gas export station to be constructed at Domuli in the Jomoro District in the Western Region, collectively referred to as the Western Corridor Gas Infrastructure Development Project.

The scope of work included the design and construction of a 45-kilometre shallow water extension of a pipeline from the production platform, the FPSO Kwame Nkrumah, to the onshore processing plant at Atuabo.

It also included the construction of 111-kilometre transmission pipelines from Atuabo to the Aboadze Power Enclave in the Shama District, as well as the construction of a metering station at Esiama and another line to the northern part of the region.

However, Dr Manteaw speaking to the media said "What for me is so most worrying is the fact that through my investigations I discovered that a particular plant that was imported by SINOPEC for the project was overpriced by as much as $40 million and this did not catch the attention of our public authorities. And even though I raised the concern as far back as 2013, nobody took serious notice of it."

"Again what I find to be so disturbing about this whole development is that Ghana Gas granted some tax concessions to SINOPEC which is not within its mandate. Because such mandates lies with Parliament which is not unusual but when this happens you need to go through the sector minister to come to Parliament for ratification. We did not seek Parliamentary ratification until 2016.

"The project was actually completed in 2014 so how do you come to Parliament in 2016 seeking ratification for tax exemptions for a project that is long been completed. That reduces the role of Parliament to rubber stamping."

Atuabo Gas project overpriced by $40m - Dr. Manteaw reveals

The Co-chair of the Ghana Extractive Industry Transparency Initiative (GHEITI), Dr. Steve Manteaw has alleged that the Atuabo Gas plant in the Western Region was overpriced by $40 million.

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