Wa- Feb. 10, GNA – The overlord of the Waala Traditional Area, Naa Fuseinin Pelpou, has stated that some Ghanaians had little or no knowledge about the role of the National Petroleum Authority (NPA) to national development.
“Some people do not know how the NPA work affects their lives, and they see its work of interest to only intellectuals. Unfortunately, the intellectuals mostly engage in partisan politics in discussing the work and achievements of the NPA, thereby clouding the issues and getting the ordinary man in the streets to lose interest in otherwise very important government machinery”, he said.
Naa Pelpou, therefore, urged the NPA to intensify education on its roles and activities to enable Ghanaians to appreciate its work better.
The Wa-Naa made this statement during a courtesy call on him at his palace by Dr Mustapha Hamid, the Chief Executive Officer of the National Petroleum Authority on Wednesday.
He assured the Authority of their readiness to co-operate and support to enable the NPA to serve Ghanaians better.
Naa Pelpou commended the government’s social interventions and pro-poor policies, which he said had impacted positively on the livelihoods of the people.
He was confident that but for the debilitating effects of COVID-19, the country would have attained a higher appreciable level of development.
He also praised the government for instituting measures to stem the pandemic and urged the people to continue to adhere strictly to the protocols, as that was the only way to keep COVID-19 at bay.
Naa Pelpuo, however, noted that despite the positive impacts of those interventions in the region and in the Wa Municipality, a lot more was still needed in the area of school furniture for some schools where pupils sit on all sorts of objects as seats to learn.
He said there were also inadequate mechanised boreholes for some communities in the area, which were still lacking portable and appealed to government and other benevolent organisations to come and support them.
Naa Pelpou appealed to the government to make available a generator to the Upper West Regional House of Chiefs to provide electricity when the supply from the national grid was interrupted during meetings.
Dr Abdul Mustapha Hamid said as part of his tour, he was to visit petroleum depots, filling stations and all other petroleum product facilities in the region to ensure that consumers were served with correct and high-quality products at the same price everywhere in the country.
The NPA was also to ensure that petroleum products were available everywhere in the country.
On the high cost of petroleum products, he said it was a phenomenon on the world market, as petroleum producing countries create scarcity to ensure that prices go up.
He said the government was determined to ensure Ghanaians do not suffer financially as a result of price hikes.
Earlier during a courtesy on Dr Hafiz Bin Salih, the Upper West Regional Minister expressed regret at the frequent smuggling of petroleum products from the region to neighbouring countries.
He also spoke about the adulteration of petroleum products in the region and appealed to the NPA to intensify its monitoring roles to help address the menace.
GNA