NPA hints of recalling all Gas cylinders in Ghana

The National Petroleum Authority has disclosed that, it will be recalling all cylinders in Ghana as part of the cylinder re circulation model.

At a cabinet meeting on 12 October 2017,president Akufo-Addo on the advice of cabinet, directed that hence forth the cylinder recirculation model of liquefied petroleum gas to be implemented in the wake of Gas explosions.

This model indicates that LPG Bottling Plants will be sited away from congested commercial and population centers and will procure, brand, maintain and fill empty cylinders to be distributed to consumers and households through retail outlets.

Low risk stations will be designated for the supply of gas to vehicles. This whole exercise is scheduled to be completed within a year.

The CEO of the NPA, Hassan Tampuli stated that “There is a stage in the implementation regime. One that we call, total cylinder recall. We will recall cylinders in the system and we will trade them off and then we will retire cylinders which do not meet the safety parameters.”

He added: “The policy anticipates that consumers will no longer own the cylinders. The cylinder will be procured, owned and branded by the (LPG) marketing companies. So you and I would only have to take an empty cylinder to a retail outlet and get a filled one. If you want any size – if you want 3 kilos, 6 kilos, 9 kilos, 12 kilos; depending on the depth of your pocket, you can get any cylinder that you want that will meet your pocket.”

The recall is scheduled to happen at the last quarter of this year, Mr. Tampuli disclosed.

The team overseeing the implementation of the model is embarking on several working visits across the world to learn best practices. The deadline for the implementation of the Cylinder Re-circulation Model is January 2019.