Normalise Fuel Situation, Kan-Dapaah Tells Government

Kumasi Mr Albert Kan-Dapaah, Shadow Minister of Mines and Energy, today called on the government to re-double its efforts to normalise the gas oil shortages problem. He asked the government to adopt measures to assure Ghanaians that such "avoidable but costly errors" will not happen again. In a statement issued in Kumasi on the acute gas oil shortage that has affected various sectors of the economy, Mr Kan-Dapaah said the Ministry of Mines and Energy should explain whether the Tema Oil Refinery (TOR) has been given sufficient working capital to finance the importation of crude oil. He said tenders floated by TOR has to be supported by letters of credit established by TOR and which requires substantial up-front payments by TOR. "We believe that this is at the core of the problem that has resulted in the shortages and any investigations deemed necessary by the government should rather aim to find out what went wrong in the Ministry itself." the statement added. Mr Kan-Dapaah Member of Parliament for Afigya Sekyere West, condemned attempts by the Ministry to castigate the Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC) and the TOR for the shortages as though the Ministry has abandoned its supervisory powers over the two institutions. The statement said " the NPP condemns the series of bad judgements, lack of foresight and the glaring incompetence of the Ministry which have resulted in the present gas oil shortage. "We believe that the Ministry should look no further than its own doorstep in finding the reasons for this colossal but irresponsible act of misjudgement and lack of vision which have caused such a tremendous havoc on the country's economy.".