Oil and gas end up through pipes, unfortunately, over the past years, there has not been a single institution in Ghana, that trains and certifies welders and pipe fitters to international standards.
Ever since Ghana discovered oil and gas expatriates have been brought in from abroad whenever pipe fitters are needed.
To address this concern and give meaning to local content law, the Ministry of Energy and the Energy Commission have formed the Ghana Welding Bureau, to bring together local welders from mechanic shops and technical students to be trained to international accepted standards.
Already the Commission has sponsored 9 instructors from 6 technical institutions.
The Chief Executive of the Petroleum Commission Egbert Fabille Jnr says, the initiative is under the assimilated Oil and Gas Capacity Building Program and aims at employment creation, reduction in the hiring of expatriates in the sector and give meaning to the local content law.
” Process Technicians, Instrumentation Technicians, Electrical Technicians and Mechanical Technicians who are ready to work in the oil and gas industry.
I know some of them have already gotten jobs as others are being interviewed for jobs and what has done the trick is the fact that we spent just about 4.5 million Ghana cedis to train them at no cost. I understand that even two of them have been recruited by a company.
What the government has done through the oil and gas capacity building is to give Ghanaian youth the necessary and right skills to be able to work in the oil and gas industry,” He said.
The Dean of the Engineering Department of Cape Coast Technical University, Prof Charles Emmanuel Oppong welcomed the initiative, adding that it has given a lot of hope for the future.
“Ghana Welding Bureau has come to stay, this establishment gives us a lot of hope.
Our boys we train in Mechanical Engineering and welding Technology have hope now. When it comes on board, what we expect from them is to draw down the content of the assessment and their expectation and infuse it into our training such that our products will be industry ready,” Mr Oppong stated.
