Petroleum tanker drivers who load fuel products from the Bulk Oil Storage and Transportation Company’s facility at the Accra Plains Depot near Tema in the Republic of Ghana, West Africa, have pledged their support for the newly appointed managing director of BOST, Edwin A. Provencal.
Chairman of the BOST Tanker Driver Union, Mr. Clement K. Ampadu, who spoke on behalf of the union, said “We want to tell the new MD that he has our support. We will make sure that he succeeds.”
Edwin Provencal, who was the technical advisor of John–Peter Amewu, the Energy Minister of the West African country, was appointed to replace Mr George Mensah Okley following the resignation of the latter.
Reasons for his resignation were not made public but some industry watchers alleged that it had to do with bad governance practices and procurement issues.
In an interview with energynewsafrica.com , Mr Ampadu said he and other members of the union had met with Mr Edwin Provencal to officially introduce themselves to him and interacted with him to know what he intends to bring onboard.
He explained that he and other members of the union were very impressed by the warm reception Mr. Edwin Provencal offered them and how he planned o turn around things at BOST.
“I have been in this industry for over nineteen years and different MD’s have come and gone. Some of them didn’t even have time to listen to your problems.
“But I can tell you that this man is different. He interacted with us and we told him our problems and he assured us that he is there to make sure that things work. One thing that he brought to our attention was that the company, at the moment, doesn’t have product and gave us his word that when there is product, they will all work.”
Fairness in fuel allocation
Mr Ampadu, however, cautioned Mr Edwin Provencal to be fair in dealing with transporters by making sure that they are all given opportunity to lift fuel
He revealed that during the previous regimes only about ten out of the transporters out of the 700 tanker owners were given fuel allocation, stating that this should not be entertained under his tenure.
“When we met him, I told him to deal well with everyone and not only few. We’re about 700 drivers and so if you allow only about ten tanker owners to work, how do you expect others to feed themselves and their family?” Mr Ampadu posed.
Transfer
Mr Ampadu, who expressed displeasure about some workers whose conduct in the company, he said, was unacceptable, called on the new MD to reshuffle the workers so that those who have stayed at one place for years and managed to form a team that gang up against MDs would no longer have the strength to operate.
