ABIDJAN – Ghana’s Justice Minister, Ms Marrietta Appiah-Oppong, says the country’s resort to UN arbitration to settle its maritime border dispute with Cote d’Ivoire will not cause any diplomatic row.
Appiah-Oppong told newsmen that Ghana had initiated arbitration proceeding in the UN to settle the dispute, which has lingered for more than three years.
Both Ghana and Cote d’Ivoire are laying claim to the oil-rich CI-100 maritime area, also known as the `Jubilee Field’.
[eap_ad_2] The field is estimated to hold about two billion barrels of oil reserves and another 1.2 trillion cubic feet of natural gas.
The issue has remained unresolved in spite of several pacific steps by the two countries, ECOWAS and the AU.
Appiah-Oppong was also quoted by the Daily Graphic as saying that Ghana took the step in order to establish its border with Cote d’Ivoire in a manner that would be favourable to both states.
She said the step was also in accordance with the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea.
“The arbitration will not break the bond of relationship, peace and good neighbourliness between Ghana and Cote d’Ivoire”, she said. (NAN) [eap_ad_3]
