Gas shortage in Accra & other towns

The country, especially Accra, has been hit by a devastating shortage of Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG), leading to many households resorting to the use of charcoal.

For automobiles which use LPG as fuel, these are terrible times as they have to wait in queues for hours at locations where gas is available.

In some instances, by the time it is their turn to be supplied, they are told that it is finished, making nonsense of the long wait.

When Daily Guide went out to seek first-hand information about how the situation was in certain suburbs of the city, long queues had been formed by LPG users, sometimes with the product not available. The Tema Oil Refinery (TOR) has been tight-lipped on the scarcity, pretending that all is well.

However, Daily Guide sources said the refinery has not been working for some time now; hence the shortage of gas which is a by-product of petrol. At Kawukudi, the ‘no gas’ inscription welcomed expectant customers who sadly went away.

A gas station assistant at Dzorwulu said they had been expecting gas since last week Monday but had not heard information from the suppliers. “As you can see, all these cylinders belong to costumers who need gas very urgently but we can’t serve them because we don’t have gas,” the young man stated.

Many taxi drivers in Ghana now prefer gas to gasoline because they think it is more affordable. In their bid to tap the economic advantage of using LPG for their cars, many commercial vehicles have altered from petrol consuming to LPG, thereby putting extra pressure on what is strictly meant for domestic consumption.

In an interview with some of the taxi drivers, they said the shortage of gas has affected their daily sales very much. Some lamented that they could not make the stipulated amount for their car owners.

When DAILY GUIDE got to Anasset Company Limited in Awudome, there was a very long queue stretching from the premises of the gas station to the one-way road in front of the place, thereby causing a traffic jam on the road.

The management of the gas station however refused to talk to the paper, with the excuse that they were busy and could not talk. But some of the people in the queue who spoke to us said they had been in the queue since 6am and had not been served as at 12 noon.

At some places, gas was served on ‘whom you know’ basis. Others had to pay as much as GH¢5.00 extra in order to be served quickly and those who could not pay had to be in the queue and wait patiently for their turn.

At the Louis Gas Station at Trade Fair, La, the management refused to talk to DAILY GUIDE when the reporter wanted a verification of some allegations from the costumers that they were serving the people they knew rather than those in the queue.

Some people had to travel from Teshie-Nungua and Sakumono to join queues at the Louis Gas Station at the Trade Fair site. A school girl in the queue said “I have been here since 8am and I have not been attended to yet.” The girl bemoaned “my classmates are in school and I am here waiting to buy gas; by the time I get home, school would be over for today.”

A restaurant operator told Daily Guide that the gas shortage had affected their daily profits since they did not have enough gas to prepare food for their customers to buy. Reports from across the country also paint a similar picture of the biting shortage of LPG.