By Albert Futukpor, GNA
Tamale, May 04, GNA – Mrs Linda Asante, Deputy Chief Executive Officer, National Petroleum Authority (NPA), has announced that the citizenry will in the coming weeks begin to exchange their old cylinders for new cylinders under the Cylinder Recirculation Model (CRM).
Mrs Asante said in line with that, the citizens would begin to see cages in their communities where they would access Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) without having to travel long distances.
She announced this at a town hall meeting organised in Tamale by the NPA to educate members of the public on the CRM and the safe use of LPG in general as well as the need for them to switch from firewood and charcoal to LPG.
Personnel from the Ghana National Fire Service took attendees through safe use of LPG and how to extinguish flames in case of fire.
In September last year, the NPA announced the full roll-out of the CRM throughout the country and issued licenses to various service providers to begin the installation of Cylinder Exchange Points and infrastructure for the distribution of LPG.
The CRM is a mode of distribution of LPG particularly for household use where Bottling Plants own cylinders, refill the cylinders, and distribute them through LPG marketing companies, who operate Cylinder Exchange Points.
Under this model, consumers do not own cylinders, and anyone, who wishes to use LPG, can just walk to a Cylinder Exchange Point, register, and gain access to cylinder to use, and only pay for the LPG.
Mrs Asante said, “The CRM is an efficient mode of distribution of LPG as it brings LPG closer to consumers, addresses safety issues and creates more jobs for our people as the value chain expands.”
She said “Government is aware that the cost of LPG affects its usage. Considering the price of LPG, is key in increasing consumption of LPG, the NPA has implemented some strategies to ensure that there is no huge jump in the price of LPG due to the implementation of the CRM.”
She mentioned that “A Tender Programme has been implemented to reduce the premium on our purchase of LPG and the savings made (over $70/mt) have absorbed the cost that CRM brings ($80/mt for investment in cylinders and bottling plants).”
She added that “We are not stopping there. We are still engaging the Ministry of Finance to consider the removal of certain taxes to reduce the price of LPG to make it affordable to all.”
Attendees sought clarifications on the ownership of cylinders, affordability of LPG and accessibility to exchange points.
GNA