The Chief Executive Officer of the National Petroleum Authority, Hassan Tampuli has dismissed claims by the Ghana Liquefied Petroleum Gas Operators’ (GLiPGOA) that the Cylinder recirculation policy could collapse their business.
[contextly_sidebar id=”PxO27vJpfrSbuXrXgASmupvj04gHrky3″]The Association in a 28-point statement outlined why the cylinder re-circulation policy is in bad taste, citing loss of jobs, among others as the likely repercussions of its implementation.
Mr Tampuli in a rebuttal, however, indicated that these concerns were unfounded, saying “even in the Amazon forest, we have cylinder bottling plants and they supply people who live around this Amazon forest in Brazil, in Colombia, in Peru so this argument falls completely flat.”
He pointed out that though the implementation of the policy will still go ahead, the Authority will engage with LPG Operators before the plan is rolled out.
President Nana Akufo-Addo ordered the implementation of the cylinder re-circulation Model of LPG distribution in October 2017, following the public outcry in the wake of the massive explosion at an LPG filling station at Atomic Junction.
Energy Minister LPG operators over strike
Meanwhile, the Ministry of Energy is expected to meet with the leaders of GLiPGOA to find an amicable solution to their concerns which have led to their declaration of a nationwide strike.
The Association declared a strike on Monday to protest the government’s planned implementation of a new gas cylinder re-circulation regime which the LPG operators claim could potentially collapse their businesses.
The Vice President of Ghana Liquefied Petroleum Gas Operators Association, Johnson Owusu said the Association does not wish to inconvenience the public however it wants the government to take into consideration their concerns over the intended policy.
LPG marketers have also kicked against the module which they say will destroy the gas retail industry they have built over the last 25 years.
They have accused the government of conniving with some foreign investors to implement the program and eventually kick them out of business.
As part of the module, gas cylinders will no longer be filled up as gas retail outlets, but cylinders will be bought from distributors each them it runs out.
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By: Marian Ansah/citinewsroom.com/Ghana
