Mr. Alhassan Tampul (middle) addressing the gathering. Photo Victor A. Buxton
The National Petroleum Authority (NPA) yesterday began community engagement on the intended Cylinder Recirculation Model of Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) with residents of Nima and Mamobi.
It was attended by religious and political leaders, market women, operators of local eateries (chop bar), taxi drivers and other users of LPG gas in and around the two communities.
The community engagements are aimed at getting Ghanaians abreast of the module to demystify negative notions about it and collate feedback for effective implementation.
The model involves filling of LPG cylinders at designated LPG bottling plants sited away from commercial and population centres for onward distribution to customers at retail outlets called exchange points.
The implementation was directed by President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo at the Cabinet meeting on October 12, 2017, following series of gas explosions in the country especially at Atomic junction in Accra last year.
Addressing the gathering, Chief Executive Officer of NPA, Alhassan Tampuli said the module was to curb the incidences of gas explosion in the country which often led to loss of lives and property.
He said it sought to provide direction on marketing and distribution of LPG in a safe and efficient manner, and facilitate an increase in access to LPG nationwide.
The goal of the policy, he said, was to ensure at least 50 per cent of Ghanaians had access to safe, clean and environmentally friendly LPG for increased domestic, commercial and industrial usage by 2030.
Contrary to claims that the module would make it difficult for low budget LPG users to acquire gas, Mr Tampuli said there would be different sizes of cylinders to meet the needs of all income earners.
He said the LPG Marketing Companies (LMC) were expected to have different sizes of filled cylinder sizes such as 3kg and 6kg to cater for those who would want to purchase smaller quantities.
On the quality of cylinders, he explained that it would be the responsibility of the LMC to ensure that the cylinders were in good condition before handing them over to the end user, adding that, it would be mandatory that all the bottling plants have a minimum maintenance facility to check for dents, leakages, replacement of valve and other issues.
Mr Tampuli said the authority had engaged the Council of State and other key stakeholders and would continue to engage others to ensure that the module served the intended purpose.
He allayed public fears of job losses, explaining that more than 100,000 jobs would rather be created along the value chain of the module and therefore rallied the participants to support the module for public safety.
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