The National Petroleum Authority (NPA) has advised the public against patronizing fuel being sold on table-top in the country.
According
to Mr. Kwadwo Appiah, the Bono Regional Manager of the NPA, the quality of
petrol and diesel being sold at those outlets could be adulterated, be of
compromised quality and thereby breakdown vehicle engines.
Describing
the practice as illegal and dangerous, the Regional Manager said the NPA is
collaborating with the Police to soon clamp down on and prosecute the dealers.
Mr. Appiah
gave the advice when he responded to a question on the activities of the
table-top petroleum dealers, which is gaining prominence in the region at a
media engagement on petroleum pricing formula post-deregulation on fuel
quality, organized by the Authority for selected media practitioners in
Sunyani.
Activities
of the table top dealers are common mostly in local communities in the Wenchi
Municipality of the Bono Region, as well as the Atebubu-Amantin Municipality,
Pru East, Pru West, Sene East, and Sene West Districts of the Bono East Region.
Most
often, because their activities are illegal, the dealers move from community to
community along major highways to outwit the Police, and to sell their products
to, particularly motorbike and tricycle riders as well as chainsaw operators.
Mr. Appiah
explained that the NPA is currently understudying the situation and building a
database on the activities of the dealers to be able to fish them out and
called on the media to help create awareness about the dangers of buying such
products.
Mr.
Ubeidalah Saeed Kutia, the Head, Quality Assurance, NPA explained that the
Authority has developed electronic tracking devise that monitored the movement
of petroleum products from depots to locations in order to ensure that petrol
and diesel are not diluted or adulterated.
He said
high quality petrol and diesel remained the hallmark of the authority at all
the 4,000 retail outlets across the country, saying, “we are always monitoring
to ensure that the various retail outlets meet specifications and standards.”
“In
fact, fuel adulteration compromises quality and could crack vehicle engines,”
he said. Mr. Kutia added that Ghana’s petroleum products remain among the best
quality in the West-African sub-region.
Mr. Abass
Ibrahim Tasunti, the Head of Economic Regulation at the NPA, said the rising
prices of fuel on the world market has direct impact on pricing in the country,
and attributed the rising prices of petroleum products partly to the Russian
invasion of Ukraine.
That
notwithstanding, he added Ghana’s petroleum products were among the cheapest in
the world, and indicated the price of diesel was shooting up, outpacing that of
petrol because of the prohibitive cost of diesel importation.
“Prices of
petroleum are also going up because the country currently pays full cost
without government subsidy,” Mr. Tasunti stated.
Source:myjoyonline