Some members of the Ghana LPG Operators Association (GLiPGOA) Monday, May 21, 2018, began a strike to protest the implementation of the cylinder re-circulation module.
Many users of LPG who had gone to some refill stations to purchase the product were left stranded.
President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo directed the implementation of the module on October 13, 2017, following a number of fire outbreaks at LPG refill plant.
The module, to be enforced by the National Petroleum Authority (NPA), requires that LPG filling points are sited out of densely populated areas and commercial centres.
It further requires that LPG bottling plants distribute products to consumers through retail outlets.
The policy also requires that low risk LPG stations be designated for the supply of gas to vehicles.
Protest
Members of the GLiPGOA have since protested against the planned implementation of the policy, arguing that it is counter-productive, and threatened to strike if the government fails to withdraw it.
While quite a number of gas dispensing stations in Accra joined the strike, others, including those owned by the Ghana Oil Company Limited (GOIL), were still selling.
Accra
When the Daily Graphic visited
some gas dispensing centres in Accra,
consumers of gas, including
motorists, were seen stranded outside
the premises of some gas stations,
reports Dominic Moses Awiah.
Whereas some of the gas stations
had people standing at the entrance
to alert consumers to the fact that
they were not selling, other stations
had closed the gates to the premises.
All the centres visited at
Dansoman, Sakaman, Lapaz,
Kwashieman and Accra New Town
had gas in stock but the places were
locked up.
Some consumers who spoke to the
Daily Graphic expressed worry about
the situation and called on the
government to resolve the issue
urgently.
Ms Rebecca Dante, who was
spotted at the Dansoman gas station,
said although she knew about the
planned strike, “I thought the issue
had been addressed”.
In an interview, some attendants
at some gas stations said they had
been instructed by their owners not
to open for business.
Elmina
There was no business activity at
the Superior Gas Filling Station and
the SSNIT Junction Gas Station in
Elmina in the Central Region
yesterday, Timothy Gobah reports.
While the dispenser at the SSNIT
Junction Station was closed with a
huge padlock, a “No gas” sign had
been placed in front of the Superior
Gas Station.
There was nobody at the two
places to speak with.
Koforidua
From Koforidua in the Eastern
Region, George Folley reports that all
gas filling stations had declared a sitdown
action, with the exception of
the GOIL Filling Station.
There was a long queue at that
station, as people rushed there to fill
their cylinders.
Taxi drivers who also use gas in
their cars were not left out.
Speaking to the Daily Graphic, an
attendant at one of the stations that
were not selling gas, Mr Kwasi
Amomah, appealed to thegovernment to postpone the implementation of
the cylinder recirculation exercise.
Tamale
Samuel Duodu reports that the strike was
yet to receive full participation in Tamale, as
some of the gas filling stations visited by the
Daily Graphic sold gas to members of the
public.
The Wuntuma and the DP Dukes Gas
stations at Lameshegu were open and served
members of the public.
In separate interviews, some workers at the
two gas stations said they had heard about the
nation-wide strike declared by GLiPGOA but
their bosses had not officially communicated to
them not to sell.
However, there was no business activity at
the BB Gas Station situated at the SSNIT Flats
area and another around the School of Hygiene
as of 11.45 a.m.
Ho
In Ho, LPG filling stations joined the
nationwide strike, reports Kofi Atsivor.
Checks by the Daily Graphic revealed that
some of the stations, including Kings Energy,
Radiance Gas and Louis Gas, had posted notices
of ‘No Gas’ on their premises.
Station attendants turned away clients,
mostly taxi drivers who drove to the stations to
buy the product, with the explanation that they
were on strike.
The situation was, however, different at the
Top Gas Station at the Poly Junction, where
some customers confirmed buying the product
before the station ran out of stock about 9 a.m.
Tema
From Tema, Della Russel Ocloo reports that
LPG vending stations in the metropolis were
shut down yesterday.
At most of the stations visited by the Daily
Graphic team, attendants said they had
suspended sales until further communication
from the national leadership of the GLiPGOA.
At the Kristo Asafo LPG Station, scores of taxi
drivers who had gone to refill their vehicles
were turned away by the manager of the facility.
The situation was not different at the
Kaysens Vending stations at the Tema Port and
Lashibi.
Bolga
From Bolgatanga, Vincent Amenuveve
reports that while some gas filling stations
along the Bolgatanga-Navrongo highway had
stopped serving the public, other stations were
serving.
At the Extee Gas Station, for instance, a “NO
Gas” sign was put at the entrance, although a
number of residents trooped to the station with
their empty gas cylinders to fill.
Also at a filling station at Yikene, a suburb of
Bolgatanga, some residents were seen buying
gas. The consumers told theDaily Graphic that
they wanted the government to urgently do
something about the situation.
NPA
Meanwhile, the Chief Executive Officer
(CEO) of the National Petroleum Authority
(NPA), Mr Alhassan Tampuli, has denied claims
that the new LPG policy will lead to job losses.
On the contrary, he said, thousands of
additional jobs would be created when the
policy was rolled out.
He, therefore, challenged any individual or
group with contrary facts to come to the
debating table.
Mr Tampuli urged the GLiPGOA to end its
strike and return to the negotiation table.
But the President of GLiPGOA, Torgbui
Adaklu V, told the Daily Graphic that the strike
by LPG outlets would continue until the
government took the concerns of its members
into consideration.
He said there were attempts to gag him, to
the extent that the issues he had raised at
committee meetings had consistently not been
captured in board minutes.
