The LPG Operators Association has warned the decision of the National Petroleum Authority (NPA) to implement the Cylinder Recirculation Module despite protests from the association could create problems in the future, leading to a scandal just like in the case of the Power Distribution Services (PDS).
The Association alleged some elements in the ruling government are pushing for the implementation of the Module because of some $350 million from the United Nations (UN) for the LPG penetration.
According to the Association, although the LPG penetration is good and would see to the phasing out of charcoal use, the NPA is using a wrong approach in implementing it.
The Greater Accra Regional Chairman of the Association, Ato Kwamina Assie, in an interview on Onua FM’s Yen Sempa on Tuesday said, “CRM will be exactly like the PDS scandal and we should be careful. It would be like the PDS”.
“Whatever we say at the meeting, they don’t take it. They want to impose it on us. Our submissions are not captured in minutes of meetings,” he bemoaned.
Mr. Assie said “with the current situation, customers can buy as low as 5 cedis worth of LPG, but with the introduction of CRM, consumers cannot buy with such an amount”.
He explained that “we will run at a loss even if you have an old cylinder, because the CRM is coming with its cylinders”.
The NPA is billed to implement the project for the distribution of LPG in October.
Piloting for the project is scheduled to start in Kwaebibirem in the Eastern Region and Obuasi in the Ashanti Region.
While the project is yet to be implemented, the Ghana Liquefied Petroleum Gas Operators Association believes the project would create unemployment while limiting the patronage of gas in the country.
Hardship of consumers
A member of the Marketing Company Association, Kwabena Nkrumah, who also spoke on Ye Sempa, said with CRM, consumers will spend a lot on LPG, and it will take a toll on their finances.
“You will make a deposit before the filled cylinder can be given to you. Your cylinder would not belong to you again because it will be branded in the logos of the companies,” he explained.
Mr. Nkrumah noted that “you cannot use a cylinder with a logo to purchase LPG from another company with a different logo”.
He said if a customer traveled from one city to another with a cylinder of one company, that customer cannot use the cylinder to purchase LPG from a different company.
This, he said, will make it difficult for most consumers to purchase LPG, and that it would add to the hardships in the country.
By Kweku Antwi-Otoo|3news.com|Ghana