Energy Minister Must Assist Commercial Gas Users

The Ministry of Energy who is drafting a memo to Cabinet to ensure that commercial drivers who use LPG pay realistic prices for the use of the product is only trying to get hard on the Ghanaian people who rely dairy on the use of LPG, instead of calling the government to subsidize more on the LPG and make sure there is constant supply of the commodity in the system.

The people of Ghana did not mandate the government to impose hardships on them but rather to cater for their welfare.

According to Deputy Energy Minister Inusah Fuseini the problem of the current shortage is because the unintended consumers of the product especially commercial drivers have created artificial shortages in the system. It will be wrong for the Minister to pounce on the driver accusing them to have created artificial shortage of LPG, because the said commercial drivers are not doing their business,serving the people of Ghana with the intention to loose but rather also as workers who want to earn a living at the end of the day. Most of them are family father who are expected to care for their families same as the Minister and any other Ghanaian working class.

It will be politically wrong for the Energy Minister or the government to direct the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Authority (DVLA) not to license vehicles that are converted from petrol to gas. There is no country in the Global world where Vehicles with Gas or Gas/Petrol convertible not allowed to be registered.

It is the assiduity of the Minister of Energy to make sure we have ample supply of LPG in the country and also reasonably subsidized for the sake of the citizens. After all no Minister in country is paying for anything (for the people) from his own pocket. You don't stop people from selling water because of water shortage from Ghana Water Co-operation, do you? The government is therefore there to see to it by taking measures to assisting Ghana Water company to enhance constant and effective supply of water for the people.

Speaking to City News, Deputy Energy Minister Inusah Fuseini said Government was determined to ensure that commercial drivers and their car owners do not rip off the state by redirecting the subsidies factored into the price of LPG into their pockets.

If good and effective measures are taken by the government, nobody can rub or rib off the economy, but if the other means like petrol for the commercial drivers is not adequately subsidized and not consistent in the system you can't expect the drivers to pack their cars at idly in their homes only to be cleaning them, while they can better go by LPG.

The driver with vehicles having dual fuel sources, can choose use petrol or gas depending upon the economical aspect. If even Petrol is in abundance, they are doing their business and must know better. It is their own business to queue for gas in abundance of petrol. No matter how much and for how long they buy the gas it is up to them to decide because are running business with the aim to make profit but not to loose. Probably using gas rather than petrol makes commercial sense for the drivers, so what speaks against it?

The Hotel, Restaurant, Catering House or any other food seller using gas for 24 hours dairy to serve its customers or a taxi driver using gas 12 hours a day, what is the difference and who must be put under the microscope? Fact is the government must make sure we are not deprived of our essential needs. The people of Ghana have not mandated democratic government to impose communist governance on them.

Calling commercial gas consumers like drivers to pay realistic prices for LPG, as the energy Minister is saying is OK but shouldn't be more than realistic else the repercussions will reflect on the Ghanaian citizen since fares other prices will then shoot up. This will then make the so-called unintended consequences (as the Energy Minister claimed) of the policy turn to be an intended consequences at long last.

FRANCIS TAWIAH (Duisburg - Germany)