The Deputy Energy Minister, John Jinapor, has waded into conversations surrounding the loading and offloading of petroleum products by Chinese firm, Sentuo Oil Refinery.

According to him, “Why will a Chinese company bring 300 tankers into this country?”

He said it is prudent and wise to encourage foreign participation but it is not enough if it affects locals.

Jinapor added, “In as much as you want to do business in Ghana don’t kill our local businesses.”

The Tanker Drivers Union said it would be a threat to their business if Chinese refinery, Sentuo Oil, continues to offload fuel locally.

According to a member of the Union, the drivers will stop the transportation of fuel across the country if the act continues.

He said Ghana’s laws have stipulated that the haulage of petroleum products should be done by Ghanaian companies only, therefore a Chinese firm must not be allowed to offload petroleum products.

Jantuah added that boycotting their business is their last resort if nothing is done about the situation which “will obviously bring shortages of fuel in the country.”

“The moment we deregulated, at the time it was GNPC distributing, the moment we deregulated, it was made that that portion should be given to Ghanaians so if you see, Shell, BP has tankers which do not belong to them but because we pick for them, we paint our tankers with their emblem but they don’t own the tankers.

“So why should the refinery now say that they have their tankers and distributing? Do TOR, NPA, and BDCs have their own tankers? They all depend on us so if you are coming in, you are going to kill our business and we have to fight for it,” he said.

Jantuah said the tanker drivers are currently frustrated over the development since most of them have loans to pay.

SSD/NOQ

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