Cylinder Re-circulation Will Not Kill Jobs ― NPA

The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the National Petroleum Authority (NPA), Mr Hassan Tampuli has stressed that the implementation of the Cylinder Re-circulation Module (CRM) will in no way, leave Ghanaians jobless.

It had earlier been projected by the Ghana Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) Operators Association that over 7,000 people were set to lose their jobs if government implements the CRM.

The LPG Operators had also alleged that the new policy would bar operators from selling cylinders which would in turn, take a significant chunk of their business.

These claims and more are what have instituted the recent strike by the marketers―bringing to halt the sale of LPG across the country.

But Mr Tampuli deflates such assertions and labelled them as “falsehoods” circulated to disrupt the implementation of the model.

Speaking on Accra based Citi FM, the NPA CEO said, originally, the plan was for the bottling plants companies to procure and own the cylinders but working visits to some countries who had already implemented the model, changed their decision.

“…we agreed with the LPG marketer’s association that, they should be the ones to be driving this process and that they should procure, brand and own the cylinders,” he said.

He continued: “The responsibility is on the marketer to maintain the cylinder, to paint them when the paint is peeling off…it is not true that the companies doing the recirculation would own the cylinders.

LPG Users won’t own Cylinders

In his submission, Mr Tampuli revealed that consumers of LPG would no longer own a cylinder.

He says, cylinders that are in the system would be tested and if it meets the standard, it would be added to the pool of cylinders to be used for the recirculation process.

“…people are not paying for the cylinders, they would only pay for something like a deposit” when picking up cylinders from the circulation centres, Mr Tamuli noted.

Safety First

Mr Tampuli argues that the main reason for the implementation is to ensure safety in the acquisition and distribution of LPG.

According to him, the program would stop LPG outlets from filling empty gas cylinders as part of measures to stop ghastly gas explosions.

Licensed LPG bottling plants would be situated outside commercial centres and would fill the cylinders for sale at the retail outlets.

Meanwhile, about18 companies have applied for the license for the CRM. The application according to Mr Tampuli are for; LPG bottling, LPG distribution and LPG Transportation.

He was however quick to add that no company has been issued a license yet and that the business module of the applicants were yet to be vetted using a licensing framework.

By: Grace Ablewor Sogbey/ [email protected]