The National Petroleum Authority (NPA) has dropped a hint of impending job losses as a result of its cylinder recirculation program expected to be rolled out by the first quarter of next year (2019).

Mr Samuel Asare-Bediako, Coordinator of the Unified Petroleum Price Fund who disclosed this to journalists at a sensitization program in the Volta Region aimed at educating the general public through their mediums, was however hopeful those who will be directly affected will find solace in the new jobs that will be created through the door to door delivery service and other indirect means.

In readiness to roll out the cylinder recirculation program, the National Petroleum Authority is engaging with stakeholders across the country for which the media was not left out.

Mr Samuel Asare-Bediako said “direct job losses are estimated to be about 400 and this is related to the number of filling plants that will be converted into cylinder exchange point. Indeed if your place is converted into a cylinder exchange point, you don’t expect to still have the number of direct employees, there will be some job loss”.

“The 400 job loss is compensated with the Direct job creation estimated to over 4500 and this is in relation to the new job access through the door to door delivery services and others within the supply chain. Aside from that, NPA will recruit some 200 safety auditors throughout the country to ensure safety at all supply points”.

Mr Asare-Bediako said despite the delays in implementation of the program, it will certainly be implemented to make sure access to LPG is increased in Ghana to discourage the use of wood for fuel at homes.

“The cylinder recirculation project will increase access to domestic use from the current 25% to 50% by 2030. We’ve had a number of consultation with the members of the National House of chiefs, the parliament select committee on minerals and energy and a team is currently moving from door to door LPG safety programs educating the restaurant and hotel operators and we hope this is the way to go”.

“We entreat members of the media to partner with NPA to ensure a successful implementation of the Cylinder Recirculation Project (CRP) and to also provide safety tips via all mediums to ensure a safe society”, he urged.

In answering to a question as to whether prices will be affected with the increase in the number of the supply chain, Mr Samuel Asare-Bediako stated “we expect a marginal increase in price” due to the new structure of having companies delivering the service right from the bulk source to the doorstep of the consumer.

Explaining further on the chain of supply of LPG, Mr Samuel Asare-Bediako explained”we have the LPG bulk distribution company whose responsibility is to either import or buy from the local refinery and store it and they are required to have a minimum capacity of 4000 metric tonnes.

They LPGC will now sell in bulk to the bottling plants who will take responsibility for refilling cylinders for the LPG marketing companies where special distribution cars will take responsibility for picking the filled cylinder for onward distribution to the consumer or a designated point where consumers will send their empty cylinder to pick up a filled one”.