Rural Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) Promotion Programme, aimed at encouraging rural folks to switch off from wood fuel to LPG for cooking has been launched in the Garu-Tempane District of the Upper East Region.

As part of the launch, the Assembly received 1,500 LPG cylinders, cook stoves and accessories to be distributed free of charge to households in the communities.

Launching the programme in Garu on the theme: “Promoting the Use of LPG as a cleaner, healthier and safe fuel for cooking and creating jobs,” Mr Emmanuel Armah-Kofi Buah, Minister of Energy and Petroleum, said the continuous dependence on firewood by rural folks is leading to environmental degradation.

He explained that it was based on this fact that the government in the 1990s initiated the LPG Promotion Programme to help address the problem. Mr Buah said though the programme was focused on rural communities it did not achieve the needed results.

He indicated that about 90 per cent of people living in urban centres particularly Kumasi, Accra and Takoradi use more LPG hence the need for the ministry and National Petroleum Authority to launch the Garu programme on pilot base. Mr Buah said research conducted by his outfit on why the rural communities do not patronise LPG revealed that the people could not afford to purchase cylinders and their accessories, coupled with the reluctance of drivers to transport the commodity.

The sector minister said the programme would reduce the drudgery and time wasted by women and school children in looking for fuel wood, minimise climate change and eliminate health related problems associated with using fuel wood for cooking.

Mr Buah said government had placed order for another set of 20, 000 cylinders with their accessories to be provided by the Ghana Cylinder manufacturing Company for distribution to 12 Districts in the second phase of implementation.

He urged people to invest in LPG filling outlets under the programme. Mr Albert Akoka Alaalzuga, District Chief Executive said the programme would help break the culture that LPG was meant for elites and also reduce the indiscriminate cutting of trees for fuel, which the assembly and Forestry Commission had over the years battled.

Mr David Adakudugu, Member of Parliament for Tempane, said the programme would help improve upon the livelihoods of the people.