About 82.7 percent of 81 Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) stations in the central region have been labelled as high-risk by the National Petroleum Authority (NPA), according to the Central Region Minister, Mr. Kwamena Duncan.

The minister made the disclosure and said per information available to him, a risk assessment exercise of all LPG retail outlets across the region revealed that 67 out of 81 were found to pose high-risk to lives and property in the region.

He said this at a town hall meeting organised by the NPA on the Cylinder Recirculation Model (CRM) of LPG distribution at Cape Coast in the Central Region yesterday. The event, dubbed ‘CRM: creating more jobs, securing our future’, was part of a nationwide exercise to engage members of the public about the policy and their contributions toward its successful implementation – which is geared toward addressing needs of the consumer.

He said per assurances given, all the high-risk stations will have their retail outlets converted into cylinder distribution centres under the CRM, “while the low-risk stations will be considered for auto-gas refilling only.

“The CRM revolves around you – the LPG marketers and distributors; so, when we hear concerns about job-losses, obviously, the facts do not support that conclusion,” he expressed.

Mr. Duncan assured that government is mindful of the local content law, “which stipulates that a venture like this should be fully reserved for Ghanaian equity participation; non-Ghanaians will not be allowed to operate under the model”.

Addressing the participants, Mr. Samuel Asare Bediako-Coordinator of Unified Petroleum Price Fund at NPA who represented the Chief Executive, reiterated that over 4,500 direct jobs will be created when the CRM takes off.

He said CRM’s the purpose is aimed at providing direction for marketing and distribution of LPG in a safe and efficient manner, so as to facilitate an increase in access to LPG nationwide.

He said it is also to ensure safety and good environmental practices in the production, marketing and consumption LPG; and to “ensure the sustainability of supply and local content and participation in the LPG sub-sector, in compliance with the Downstream Local Content Policy”.

President of the Central Regional House of Chiefs and Omanhene of Gomoa Ajumako Traditional Area, Obrempong Nyanful Krampah XII, called on the populace to support this new policy and assured chiefs in the region of continuous support to ensure its full implementation.

Source: thebftonline.com