Big clampdown of filling stations

A massive exercise to apprehend and punish filling stations currently hoarding fuel in anticipation of fuel increases will swing into action from Tuesday 15 October 2002.

The exercise, to be undertaken by a Task Force comprising personnel from the Tema Oil Refinery, Energy Commission, the Police and Ghana Standards Board, will randomly visit filling stations, which are believed to be hoarding fuel in anticipation of fuel price increases.

The hoarding speculative buying of fuel follows an exclusive story last Friday by The Statesman of an imminent increases in prices of petroleum products as a result of a combination of factors which have led to current huge debts for TOR. “This was unacceptable since it is creating not just unnecessary inconvenience for motorists and the public, but has the potential of dislocating the economy,” said a visibly angry official of the Ministry of Energy.

According to TOR officials, the queues are unnecessary since there has been no interruption in the production and supply of petroleum products from the refinery. “Indeed, we have pumped more than we usually do, realising the potential for unscrupulous people to resort to panic buying as a result of the publication and confirmation by the Minister of Finance that price increases were inevitable,” said an official of TOR.

Referring to greed as the only explanation for hoarding of fuel at such times, the source said that apart from the genuine problems of the need to increase one’s capital outlay to meet demand after every increase, the desire to make undue windfall profit at the expanse of motorists is always at the heart of such increases.

Cautioning filling stations against further hoarding, the source which disclosed that government, “takes a very serious view of such clear acts of sabotage,” said that penalties for filing stations caught hoarding fuel include closing them down for a specified period.