The LPG Marketers Association of Ghana is demanding compensation ahead of the full implementation of the Cylinder Recirculation Module programme.

This follows notification by the National Petroleum Authority (NPA) that the phase one of the project will commence in September 2023. The NPA has said it will begin reassessment of all LPG re-filling outlets in order to reclassify them.

But the Association emphasised that the successful implementation of the CRM would heavily depend on the mutual understanding and buy-in of all stakeholders and in this regard, and it is imperative that the NPA demonstrates fairness to all concerned, including the current operators who have sustained the industry for over thirty years.

The LPG Marketers noted that it is impractical to organize new trucks to transport bottles in six weeks, adding that the industry players thought, in fairness, the NPA would give us ample time to adjust to the new situation.

“The fact is that all Filling plant owners have substantial debts to pay so that any form of categorization, which has even the remotest tendency to reduce sales and revenue of the operator, would not be in our interest and, for that matter cannot be accepted. It is noteworthy, that the Banks accepted to give us the loans based on our Sales and Revenue.”

But the LPG Marketers in a statement signed by their Chairman, Mallam Bukari Amadu said they deserve compensation for their investment into the sector in view of the harm that the CRM in its current form presents to them.

“We are asking that the authorities value all our existing plants including every piece of equipment, vessels, and the over 600 trucks currently involved in transporting LPG across the country, and pay the relevant compensation to their owners — as done in all such situations. We are very much concerned about the huge investments we have made and continue to make, significantly at the prompting of the NPA itself, in setting up the plants and ensuring safety. The construction of the NI Highway in Accra is a living example. Owners of all the buildings affected, except encroachers, were paid compensation. For that matter, the construction of the road went on without any hitch."