Accra, April 19, GNA – The National Petroleum Authority has called on the Management team of musician Peter Bozah alias Fameye to cooperate by providing the name and location of the fuel station he allegedly bought fuel mixed with water.
“The news that music artiste, Peter Bozah alias Fameye, has received GHS 25,000 compensation from an unnamed Oil Marketing Company (OMC) for allegedly selling him fuel contaminated with water came to the National Petroleum Authority (NPA) as a surprise”.
A statement copied to the Ghana News Agency on Wednesday in Accra said the NPA, had Quality Assurance, in charge of investigating the purity and integrity of petroleum products in Ghana.
“This directorate has a laboratory with state-of-the-art equipment purposely for the testing of specific and vital quality parametres. Additionally, there is also the Consumer Services Department within the Corporate Affairs Directorate which interfaces with consumers on such issues as product adulteration, consumer complaints, consumer compensations, to name but a few”.
The statement said through effective communication and cooperation between NPA and consumers, some OMCs had paid compensation, either in cash or in kind, to affected complainants.
“The failure rate of fuel adulteration has dropped significantly from 6.20 percent in 2016 to 1.37 percent in 2022, all through the commendable work of the respective directorates of the Authority.
“In the case of Fameye and his Management Team, they have refused to cooperate with the NPA in terms of providing the name and location of the retail outlet following his tweet on the suspected purchase of fuel contaminated with water.
The statement said in an earlier interaction with the Authority, Fameye’s Management Team said it would handle the matter by itself.
“ Despite that position, the NPA still affirmed its readiness to proceed with the investigation if Fameye’s Management Team decided to cooperate with the Authority by providing it with all the necessary contact details”.
It said the procedure for handling complaints was that upon receipt of the customer complaint, the NPA shall conduct rigorous investigations where samples may be obtained from the retail outlet and the customer’s vehicle.
“NPA prefers to collect fuel samples from the vehicle of the customer, within 48 hours after purchase. This is to avoid the incidence of co-mingling whereby a new product could be mixed with the old product that the customer could have purchased. The sample will be taken to the laboratory for quality analysis. The Quality Assurance and Corporate Affairs Directorates will keep the OMC and complainant engaged throughout the process and inform them of the outcome.”
It said the NPA Act 691 mandated the NPA to, among other things, protect the interest of consumers and ensure that they get value for money.
“Assuming that Fameye’s claim of purchasing fuel contaminated with water is valid, how can NPA protect the interest of other consumers who might have purchased or still purchasing fuel from the unnamed retail outlet. It is for this reason that on Tuesday 18th April 2023, that the Consumer Services Department once again reached out to Fameye’s Management Team for information on the
name and location of the retail outlet to proceed with investigation after the NPA’s attention was drawn to the news of the alleged settlement.
We wish to state categorically that the refusal of Fameye and his Management Team to disclose the name and location of the retail outlet and OMC in question is a concern to the regulator of the industry”.
It said their door were still open to thoroughly investigate the case and conduct the needed investigation, provided that Fameye and his Management team cooperated with them.
GNA