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NPA to start piloting Cylinder Re-circulation Model

The National Petroleum Authority (NPA) is to start piloting the Cylinder Re-circulation Model (CRM) of Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) distribution in the Ashanti Region, next month.

Consequently, the NPA is in discussion with the association of oil marketing companies and LPG marketing companies, its implementation partners, to finalise modalities for the pilot.

Chief Inspector of the authority, Mrs Esther Anku, announced this during a presentation on the implementation of the module at a stakeholder engagement in Accra last Friday.

The engagement, which forms part of ongoing activities to solicit views on the module, was attended by representatives of oil and LPG marketing companies, catering and hospitality associations, traditional leaders and traders.

The CRM involves the filling of LPG cylinders at designated bottling plants for onward distribution to consumers at specialised retail outlets, instead of the current practice where cylinders are filled at LPG outlets nationwide.

Its implementation was part of President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo’s directive to the NPA in 2017, following a deadly gas explosion at Atomic junction in Accra, which claimed several lives.

Mrs Anku disclosed that six companies had, so far, been licensed to set up bottling plants nationwide, and that, one of them would be operationalised  in Accra soon  ahead of the CRM implementation in the capital.

Instead of recalling all cylinders and replacing them en bloc, the Chief Inspector said they would be recalled in phases depending on the NPA’s readiness to roll out the CRM in a particular area.

Wife of the Vice President, Mrs Samira Bawumia, an ambassador for the United Nations’ Foundation Global Alliance for Clean Cook-stoves, urged Ghanaians to embrace the module to safeguard life.

She advocated the use of clean energy in cooking and stressed the need for all to join the drive to reduce the harmful effects of cooking with firewood and charcoal, adding that, “no life should be lost through cooking”.

Deputy Minister of Energy, Dr Mohammed Amin Adam, allayed fears by industry players that the CRM would lead to job losses, and explained that, it would rather offer more opportunities for job creation.

He said regulators would work together with all stakeholders to ensure that appropriate measures were put in place to make the CRM robust to serve its intended purpose.

Mr Alhassan Tampuli, Chief Executive Officer of NPA, said the authority would continue to engage stakeholders as the CRM policy was not cast in stone, but open to suggestions.

Stating that the CRM would lead to the creation of about 4500 jobs, he said the authority was committed to the CRM policy goal of ensuring that at least 50 per cent of Ghanaians had access to safe and clean LPG for use.


BY JONATHAN DONKOR

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