Anxiety all over * As Ghanaians await Prez's intervention in food, fuel

Front Page: May 22, 2008.
Story: Albert K. Salia & Charles Benoni Okine
STAKEHOLDERS in key sectors of the economy have expressed the hope that President Kufuor’s address to the nation this evening will provide a boost to the nation’s agricultural and oil industry.
They were keen on what specific subsidies the President would announce to deal with rising oil and food prices.
Players in the downstream petroleum sector said any subsidies on petroleum products would be welcome news, not only for individuals and companies but the oil marketing companies (OMCs) as well.
According to them, subsidies would also help to reduce their cost of operation, as well as help them to stay in business.
The Managing Director of Total, one of the major players in the oil industry, Mr Felix Majekodunmi, said, “We as OMCs will also benefit if the government announces subsidies on petroleum products.”
He said the move would mean that the working capital requirements of the OMCs were going to reduce, adding that “this business of ours require huge financial capital so the subsidies will reduce working capital requirements”.
“We are really suffering at present because we feel the pinch so much. In the first quarter of this year, we posted a 40 per cent loss, compared to the previous year, and this was as a result of the skyrocketing prices of crude oil on the international market,” he added.
He said his company had wanted to reduce its staff strength to be able to cut costs and expressed the hope that the expected subsidies would save the situation.
Mr Majekodunmi said for the past two years the OMCs had not seen any increase in the margins meant for them and,
therefore, denied any suggestions that the OMCs were making more money from increases in crude oil prices on the international market.
According to him, the OMCs were making losses and so any subsidies would benefit them, too.
Mr Victor Alhassan of Star Oil Company also believed that subsidies would impact positively, not only on the economy in general but also on individual stakeholders.
“I would like to wait and see what the subsidies would be like and comment on them thereafter,” he said.
However, he noted that individuals and companies which used to spend more money on transportation and on fuel would be able to breathe a sigh of relief.
Other OMCs, such as Shell and GOIL, were engaged in meetings at the time of going to press and could, therefore, not be reached for their expectations.
While anticipating something substantial from the President’s speech, the President of the Afife Rice Irrigation Co-operative and Marketing Society, Mr Godwin Atokple, said the society expected the President to announce a major support package for farmers.
He said farmers still depended on manual implements for harvesting, which resulted in post-harvest losses and did not enhance growth.
He said the society also expected the President to announce a marketing support of strategic buyers to buy the produce of farmers and for them to be paid promptly.
For his part, the Managing Director of the Irrigation Company of Upper Region (ICOUR), Mr Issah Bukari, said the President should announce a major financial and fuel package for farmers.
He said increasing fuel prices were affecting the ploughing of land for the cultivation of food crops.
Mr Bukari said many farmers had to resort to manual ploughing of the land because they could not afford the use of tractors.
He said President Kufuor should also announce a major package for the upcoming crop season that would involve credit facilities to help farmers to increase their production and market yield.
Mr Bukari said a support package in fertiliser for maize farmers in the northern part of Ghana at this crucial time would go a long way to increase maize yield for the harvesting season.
According to him, the country should not look at the immediate hardships but look into the future because “we cannot tell what will happen before the next farming season”.