The Chief Executive Officer of the National Petroleum Authority (NPA), Alhassan Sulemana Tampuli has rejected calls by some industry players for the Authority to abandon the ongoing piloting of the LPG Cylinder Re-circulation Model Policy.
The CEO of Ghana’s petroleum downstream regulator believes the Authority has gone far with the programme, hence, abandoning it is not the best option.
“We are determined to secure the safety of consumers and despite the difficulties, the pilot will not be abandoned,” Alhassan Tampuli explained.
Gas Tanker Drivers Association in the West African nation, recently, urged the NPA to halt the piloting of the LPG CRM programme claiming that the piloting, which was done in Obuasi and Kade in the Ashanti and Eastern Regions, had failed.
They accused the NPA of wasting state resources.
Vice Chairman of the LPG Marketers’ Association, Gabriel Kumi backed calls by the drivers to halt the piloting programme.
Ghana: Halt Cylinder Re-circulation Model Piloting Now-Tanker Drivers To NPA (Video)
However, speaking at the 4th Phase of the piloting in the Jomoro District in the Western Region, Mr Tampuli indicated that industry stakeholders are important to the implementation of the policy, so their concerns and views would not be discarded.
Mr Tampuli said the pilot committee has no intention of excluding any industry member from the exercise, saying their commitment and contributions were always considered in the working document.
“In recent times, we’ve had calls by some industry players to halt the implementation of the CRM pilot phase due to some challenges encountered with the pilot exercises in Kade and Obuasi.
“We need not remind ourselves that one of the reasons for the pilot is to help address difficulties that may arise when we eventually move to a full-scale implementation of the CRM policy.”
He said pilot exercises are conducted to help guide the people to identify problems and fix them and in light of the problems encountered in the pilot areas are being addressed.
Mr Tampuli said a total of 3,983 cylinders have been procured for Jomoro alone to augment the cylinders currently in the hands of consumers in the area.
“All you need to do is to pick your empty cylinder, walk to the gas station and exchange it for a filled cylinder,” he said.
The programme was attended by traditional leaders, opinion leaders and the security agencies.
