Oil promises – how oil changed a country | DW Documentary

so [Music] [Music] you are listening to gamma news april 18 2007. uk femme talon oil has announced the discovery of 600 million barrels of light oil offshore from ghana talos saw its shares rise at 10 percent a treasure trove of black gold one of the biggest discoveries of oil in africa in the past 10 oil at years president j okafor said ghana will be the exception to the african paradox of oil poverty and conflict the discovery of the country's first major oil deposit could turn the west african country into an african tiger with oil as a shot in the arm we are going to fly oil promises this is what i know from back home i was born not far from the nigerian oil fields we all know what a disaster this has become and now ghana the black gold from far away in the ocean is supposed to change everything for everyone this is a story about the big world suddenly coming to three small fishing villages here at the western coast of ghana marked by dirt roads and lacking electricity or running water now they want to build a gas factory a five-star hotel and a refinery big industry [Music] me [Music] politicians and international investors visit the villages on the western coast i suppose this is the first time an suv is coming to princess town the international investors come with local troop because you know to gain trust you have to start from home will the people really get their piece of a beak pie this time the purpose of the meeting today is to tell you where the project has reached we will need to employ up to 2 000 people and then the hotel alone once the hotel is open we'll need nearly a thousand employees taylor woodrow uk are planning to have workshops to train up the youth of prince of town who are interested in basic building skills carpentry skills metal work and that sort of thing and the 18 kilometer dirt road we have been given assurances will be surfaced by the time the hotel is ready to open [Applause] [Music] um [Music] what if this all came true what if the lives of the people would really change not only empty words for ones but actions developments jobs hard roads oh my lovely ghana you're on the right path in this is the area so hormone capture have acquired some near the lagoon some outside the lagoon that hotel can accommodate more than 3 000 people hotel golf park football park hockey and so on then after that air trip too they have promised us a lot even during their construction a lot of laborers will be taken from here they will still like to uh uh open a stress training center to train a lot of people so that that proposition can work in their company everything will change because i will get a job and my friends will get a job so you will get to smash more money to do everything we like to do yeah so everything will change so we are now here waiting solomon capital to even i i want to see a budd rosa on the on the site and the blog making i'll be part and the calculator i'll be quiet i'm matthew asido i'm a school teacher at the same time a tour guide when the oya project comes on there will be a lot of tourists the tourism business here grow high and high my dream is going tall every day uh it was the germans they started this place in 1683 to trade gold and ivory they found out that they comes through hot belongs to us and they did that and it was perfect to them oh yes the ancient fort built by the germans they took gold and they paid for it with cheap schnapps and stuff like that this was the business model back then later they started trading people and our chiefs were part of the business you have to take their last shower here and after that the use of broken bottles to shave their hairs with the view that when they are neat the price will shoot up and after that with their chains their waist and their neck they pass through this door and call this door of no return [Music] this is what it was like in the olden days foreigners cooperating with our leaders to exploit the citizens and now yeah listen to ghana news this is edwin nyakum bringing you the news afternoon the princess town luxury beach resort will bring much needed international standard accommodation to the western region of ghana the site enjoys over a kilometer of white sand beach the coastal landscape could be transformed to make way for the new industry farms and fishing communities will have to move though the government says they will receive compensation the deputy minister of energy mr emmanuel amaku fibua has given the assurance that the government will give ghanians especially the local communities the opportunity to benefit from the oil and gas industry a [Music] foreign foreign let's go [Music] m what a great place for sun chairs investors might think but will they consider the traditions of these villages imagine employees having to explain to hotel guests that they can't go swimming on a thursday the land for the hotel was sold without the consent of a small fishing village on the sand strip between the ocean and the lagoon they forgot to ask tobas people and now their traditions and livelihoods are at stake but promises sparkle like diamonds and it is hard to resist when somebody is waving money and job assurances in your face [Music] [Music] the princess towns assemblyman regularly travels the 18 kilometers of dirt road to the district office no more getting stuck in the mud yes please princess needs a tired road to be connected [Music] [Music] and now listen up the big world is interested in this region change is coming and the district administration is dreaming big hey you are welcome thank you sir oh that's great let's welcome good morning to you yeah good morning thank you yeah oh yes hello you're welcome thank you so please have a seat thank you good suruma capita whom they also acquired land a long princess princess town area of 100 piece of was acquired for the purpose of establishing an oil refinement if you have an oil refinery around here there will be other allied activities uh activities which will also create jobs and bring opportunities to our people and other people who come we would not want to go the nigerian way where the local communities would have to take up arms to fight oil companies no we have already emphasized our willingness our readiness to engage the local communities in dealing with these issues we need a new term because we are we we are anticipating a lot of people to come into our district so it's going to be a combination of korea and ghanaian and then these are some of the animations of what we want to have at the same they also want our name to also be in the in the books of history of history because we are going to be the first uh environmental city yeah in ghana we're going to have a new town that project will provide adequate office space for companies the numerous companies that will be coming in it will provide a presidential accommodation for all the people who are coming in you know we expect not less than five hundred thousand people in the next yes the next in the next five to ten years not like nigeria okay but 500 000 new inhabitants this is almost 10 times the number of people living here right now korean bridges nice and fancy houses like in a fairytale city yeah everything seems possible the time is six o'clock this is radio ghanaian technology the bulk oil storage on transportation company bust is to construct a petroleum terminal on a 300 acre land at the pompune reef the largest petroleum terminal and strategic depot in the country that will create 500 new permanent jobs it will be linked with real wagons offshore pipelines and other transmission devices to receive and transmit processed natural gas [Music] oh message me now colliding they cannot stay close today the arabian gulf oil refinery that's why we are moving them to a new site and we are here to immunicate the area so that we can plan for the resettlement of the two villages so from top here from the line the top here that will be the new settlement area here is where we are now we are standing now though foreign school modern bathrooms for fishermen and farmers that sounds great the old village will disappear no one is complaining after all who will miss the mud houses who's going to miss fetching water from the ocean for a shower there is a constant sound of helicopters flying to the oil rig this here out a new era for adom his family my hey oh blah blah blah here we go i'm is [Music] [Music] [Music] okay [Music] [Applause] [Music] will symbolically press the button to officially commence full-scale production of oil at the jubilee fields in the western region today my brothers and sisters today wednesday the 15th of december 2010 it's a special day in the lives of ghanaians today we are pouring out our first oil from the jubilee field we must ensure that the oil is a blessing and not a [Applause] [Music] case [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] the oil flow has started better than nigeria is the order of the day we nigerians know gas flaring is one of the biggest crimes against nature but super duper geek ghana wants to stop it from the start by building a gas processing plant right on the shore where oil is drilled of course including jobs for locals like gifty [Music] [Music] um yes foreign whatever [Music] [Music] i'm about 38 years very very fresh yeah after children oh daughters [Music] bye every family grow coconut prayer they plant coconut that is our main crop roughly by six six years seven years you can get a fruit however if you didn't plant coconut then you are going to lost you are going to die because there is no other work that you can do we are going to use it for oil sometimes to we sell it they send they transport it to other countries so when when you are visiting for audio you clack my dream for the future is to be a big man but all depends upon money to be a big man it's not easy it depends upon money without money you cannot do anything and you cannot be a big man and so my future is to be a big man [Music] big man can a coconut farmer like francis or a fisherman become a ghanaian big man usually they're struggling to get food for their family and pay the school fees well maybe i should forget my doubts for a moment maybe it will all come true it's 17 30 gmt live from our studios here at alabaca in accra gas flaring is still ongoing at ghana's jubilee oil field fishermen working near the jubilee oil field 60 kilometers off the coast of ghana spotted in large oil slick floating towards land fishermen in western region face food insecurity amid an algae infestation the shores of many fishing villages surrounding ghana's jubilee oil field are now covered with decomposing sargassum which clocks the fission nets and boat engines of local fishermen oh my god um [Music] it's been two years now since the old tubs opened millions of barrels worth several billion us dollars have been fueled there is no sign of the oil money neither in turbulence village nor in any of the villages along the western coast what about sending someone to sort out the suffering of the fishermen whether it is related to the oil or not the western coast is waiting for the promises to come true princess town is waiting for the hotel and for the 2000 jobs and teacher matthew is waiting for tourists to supplement his meager teaching salary sometimes i wait all day and then notorious for the hotel projects i'm not sure the time they are going to start the project but i'm hoping that it will start early so that i can enjoy my business the topic we are going to consider this morning is false the topic is what force perfect can and at the same time have more mass okay so they're going to pull it so ready go pull it pull it well [Applause] yeah than patrick and charles so for them again [Applause] one fishing boat carried 687 fish before then only few people go to school now they have found out that the world is a dynamic now the kids have a new dream they have found out that in the near future there will be a job for the kids so they are planning good about the case [Applause] i like teaching very well but because there's no support from that's why i want to joint drain any other business i want to get more little money looks the same two years after adom and the villagers cleared the land for their new village there is no refinery and no new pompuni with fancy bathrooms for adorm and his neighbors it's election time time for demands [Music] [Music] foreign you see something better i hear you this is something better [Music] okay [Music] um [Music] my [Music] my several kilometers further west big changes in atuabo the ground is prepared for the new gas processing plant do you want to be one of the few ghanaian experts at the top of ghana's oil industry discount training fee 850 us dollars call 024 606. we will display helicopter escape and rescue mustering to a board lowering your light board and we also will show you skills in advance so i'd like to invite you all to the new world-class rig world training center to see exactly what we can offer m um [Music] [Music] cosmetics is now driving this gigantic roller nigeria would have enjoyed this sort of female empowerment and future big man francis the coconut farmer has been sent with the help of the whole family to be trained as a welder action time the world is moving on we the youth here we wanted to train we spend a lot of money so i wonder where comes we also get a job to do some get some money in our pocket and i feed our family and our siblings in nigeria people from other places will come and do their work and whatever they go out then the citizens are there nothing happens oh this is what you are seeing here we are training them just because we don't want the problems to happen in ghana what they have given it to us we can do everything about welding about fabricating and other things we have the fabricators we have weathers we have five feet even we have electric cars they are all here so that whenever you take us to when our camps whenever wherever you take us we'll be able to do something that happens [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] me this is definitely new this is progress only four years after the first oil was produced a new home for adom gifty francis matthew and the other villagers no no no no this is only for engineers and businessmen from accra and abroad is foreign my across the country with news the final welding of the onshore gas distribution pipeline project at the gas processing plant at afghambo in the western region has been successfully carried out by the chinese company on the project synopek energy giant center pack says it is committed to supporting ghana to develop its oil and gas industry so that a west african country could derive maximum benefits from its rich hydrocarbon resources hold on for a second what is going on here where is gifty who trained to drive a roller where is francis the coconut farmer who became a welder a chinese company got the contract to build their own shore pipelines on the guards factory in the western region and guess what they brought their own workers in 2014 only very few ghanaians are working in the oil and gas industry not gifty and not francis [Music] we spend a lot of money at the wedding side but the man failed us he told us that after we have finished the welding he he will employ us in the business after we have finished the wedding we never see the man again and when we call on his line the line is off you feel very disappointed but still we hope that we can do something better [Music] foreign is who decides the rule of this game for centuries the traditional leaders have been in charge now part of the region is turned upside down i want to see statistics to find out how many of the employees the people they claim they have already employed them long ago how many are from this area because they are there people who are going to buy the branch see you can't have a situation an apartheid situation where people are burned around and they become as a second citizen because people from elsewhere are here working and then people around here have to fold their their hands in their distance it's a big issue i do feel like that sometimes that there's a big gorilla goliath coming and i'm just david me and my eldest [Music] because this is an international level of industry and our people are just regular rural people every fisherman they feed about seven people in their family you know so if they can't make this living then we know it's not just them but we have other people that are suffering so it is very critical for us to to look at it everyone here you randomly should help them not yet it's as hard as repeating their fishing activities over here with this you can never go when they're tangled at night you cannot pull them so there's no need of going and then having your neck destroyed so that's why you cannot be an official at this time [Music] [Music] okay some kilometers away the fishermen in pompuni are also waiting for better times pumping still looks the same no change no electricity no water no bathroom for a dorm the land that was cleared for his new modern village was taken back by nature one foreign this is be good job [Music] um [Music] okay [Music] um hallelujah what drives me crazy is that no one is protesting no one is saying that what is going on is not right so how about demanding a proper piece of a pie instead of a few crumbs people are so patient if only they would raise their voices if only they would fight to have a better life free money [Music] hello [Music] hello good morning and welcome to news 5. since 2010 more than 300 million barrels of crude oil have been lifted from the jubilee field worth 24 billion u.s dollars tallow oil announces that it is expecting to report revenues of around 900 million dollars the new dividend policy of the company is expected to deliver at least 100 million dollars per year to shareholders in 2018 the petroleum commission approved 420 million dollars worth of contracts but only one-sixth went to indigenous ghanaian companies fewer prices have consistently gone up for the past 32 months to see an accumulated increment of 50 over the period meanwhile the same cannot be said for consumers incomes oh by 2019 almost 10 years after the first oil gift has left her village she has moved to accra she is neither driving a forklift nor a roller she's not even hurting anymore but is searching for a job and a place to stay [Music] my hey um m foreign good this is the story of an oil company that has declared a commitment to the principle of shared prosperity cosmos is a company that respects the communities where we operate the benefits of our patients are shared between ourselves and our communities more than 30 000 people in the western region now have portable water sustainable cost-effective water systems completion of construction of 24-seater toilet facilities the kindergarten forms part of telugana's limited commitment ten years after the first oil production began there is oil money there is gas money but where is it there are nicely tarred streets leading to their turbo gas factory and because they had some tar left they tired atuabo although nobody in the village owns a car nobody can afford one you know what we call this white elephants [Music] oil companies claim to be paying back to the people but these are small little projects crumbs of the master's table just tranquilizers it was done by ganagas company it covers about eighty percent of the streets natural gas it's the only change in the town so from now you can maneuver in any part of the last time it wasn't like that the last time you came it went like that but now i can go away with a car and even some of the companies having provided safe water for some of the communities it was a promise and then the tanks were brought the machines were brought back but now even some of the matters are getting rusted it's not working so many places big baby promise and you see partial signs that all comes to nothing the last time you came it was there but it wasn't as bad as it is now it's more it's more the activities of the oil whenever they start drilling they are very far that is the activities we bring down this this thing comes down from as a result or for the abundant over there and when we asked them they said no that you know for sure it says the activities that bring down this to the shore okay they are making money at the expense of their local communities here because our source of livelihood has been taken out from us and they are making their billions of billions of dollars so in fact we are very very frustrated here the oil and gas had not been a blessing to us i thought it had been rather a case to rest [Music] foreign my [Music] [Music] we did our best for the training of oil and gas training very unfortunately the work which we were promised didn't come on people are doing agriculture without it you cannot survive so people are doing it and at the same time waiting for the oil work waiting waiting we will about five years i think about five years ago that you came here they told us that the tent is coming for five years it has never come so if you you mostly rely on the company coming here you always die you will die [Music] yes you this one good god for him all right pronounce them one by one start from here yes i don't have money but i'm doing my best to send them to school to learn a very good work i don't want them to suffer like i am suffering in fact if i'm saying i'm suffering i'm suffering to get the money for somebody who is attending university it's not a joke so i don't want my children to be like me i want them to be up more good than i uh we failed at something we were not able to be a big man and we would not be able to be big men because the work didn't come here we will not do soup until everything is spoiled we are still waiting for their promises and we are still waiting we wait till we die and if not if we are not dead we will not lose our [Music] [Applause] hope [Music] [Music] 14 14 14 13 14 10 17 and then 16. by the mood what about your life foreign a little electricity sometimes but adam's new village never materialized 10 years of huge promises so much about doing it better than nigeria big world has brushed past the western coast and has already moved on leaving nothing good behind [Music] it's not like nigeria okay but it is not what i was hoping for i had expected promises finally being kept instead of dreams vanishing again why am i here [Music] princess town indeed got a bit of tar but the road still ends halfway princess town is still sleeping the hotel was never built and matthew is waiting and waiting and waiting and waiting since morning i have waited for some hours if you know even one tourist here [Music] okay it was a very big promise and you were all waiting to see it happened that they have failed us there's no job here most of the youth have traveled outside princess town just a math talk we're going to give you 1000 jobs 5 000 factories and nothing has been done nothing has been done today people of princeton [Music] the same old story nothing has changed nothing has changed it's like bringing good giving a snap or drink the same as taking our oil away giving us seaweeds the same story regardless a government b foreign [Music] told foreign [Music] [Music] this is radio gonna need to ignore our channels across the country with news norwegian company aka energy announced a new oil discovery cannot oil production will double to a 400 000 barrels per day in the next four years the country could become the fourth biggest oil producer in sub-saharan africa big names like france's tutor at least enough ireland's tallow and usb's cosmos either running for blocks i'm sure that ghana's prospects are very bright one of the biggest all fines in africa the second biggest oil discovery in africa enough enough to make a believer of anyone i might say [Applause] [Music] [Music] you

Channel: DW Documentary

Views: 2,457,674

Rating: 4.7400784 out of 5

Keywords: Documentary, Documentaries, documentaries, DW documentary, full documentary, DW, documentary 2020, Ghana, oil, poverty, Africa, development, hope, globalization

Id: b58b-BvWEpo

Length: 84min 53sec (5093 seconds)

Published: Thu Dec 03 2020

Reddit Comments

[u/SkyHighWhy]

The govt just want money and does not care about anything such as environmental standards and etc.

[u/Pimm314]

This op film is a bit lacking in explanation but this one offers a different discourse not better or worse just more perspective.

https://youtu.be/ySnk-f2ThpE

This one is a look into their motivations for big oil to behave the way they did.

https://youtu.be/0wlNey9t7hQ

[u/polytopey]

Let me guess, suddenly there's a dictator in Ghana and good guy USA is ready to help ?

[u/frequencyhorizon]

globalization... now that's a word i haven't heard in a long time.

[u/GoodmanSimon]

Typical African story, corruption, dictators, corruption, bad governance, corruption.

Typical rest of the world, blame the West for the above ... oh, and corruption.