Some residents of Takoradi in the Western Region are angry with the government for failing to relocate the Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC) to the Region.
The President, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo promised the residents he will relocate the GNPC to the Western Region during the 2016 electioneering period.
In a sharp twist to that, Joy News learns that the Ghana National Petroleum Corporation is going to construct a new head office in the national capital, Accra at a cost of $20 million.
Some residents of Takoradi have described the move as a betrayal, with some saying they never believed the then candidate Akufo-Addo in the first place.
“Oh! No! No! No! This is very bad. I am really hurt. At least the young ones will get some job to do…Accra is very choked and packed so we need them here,” one lady lamented.
Other residents who spoke to Joy News were disappointed that natives of other regions were benefitting from oil from their region while they live in poverty.
They are calling on the government to rescind its decision to build the headquarters in Accra and bring it to the Western Regional capital instead.
“…so as a youth, I feel let down and I hope probably it can be addressed. Having other people from other regions benefitting from oil that is basically from the region and the youth from the region not getting anything out of it really hurts,” another resident complained.
He said he was hopeful that the relocation of GNPC to their region meant more job opportunities for their youth, therefore, described the development as disheartening.
“It no longer coming in means the number of jobs that would have been created no longer gets in,” he said.
Another young man who spoke to Joy News was not surprised by the decision. He says successive governments always come to power through numerous promises.
In his experience, these governments never fulfill all of these promises before their tenure expires.
"Governments coming into power always make promises upon promises but at the end of the day, they only fulfill about 40% of those promises…,” he said.
He added that particularly about the relocation of GNPC to Western Region, he doubted that the New Patriotic Party (NPP) government will fulfill that.
“I doubted it in the first place and now that it has materialized, it has set my mind free,” he said.
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