The Chamber of Petroleum Consumers (COPEC) has advised the National Petroleum Authority (NPA) to enhance public education on the implementation of the Cylinder Re-circulation Model before its complete rollout in September 2023.
Perry Okudzeto, Deputy Director of the NPA, explained during a press briefing on Thursday [August 3, 2023] that the model had undergone successful piloting, streamlined systems, and established infrastructure to ensure safe delivery and usage of LPG across operational areas.
However, speaking on Eyewitness News on Citi FM, Duncan Amoah, the Executive Director of COPEC, cautioned the NPA against swift policy implementation.
The policy is set to initiate in Accra and Kumasi before expanding nationwide.
Mr. Amoah warned that adopting the policy in its current state would lead to widespread confusion, urging for increased sensitization.
“The NPA should go slowly, and I don’t know why the rush and frenzy around the policy, and I hope we can easily carry the people along because the former NPA CEO did a rushed pilot project. One would have expected that we would probably be doing proper piloting at this point when you have a number of the bottling plants ready, and we have suggested on a number of occasions that we are dealing with bulk consumers and so must be started to identify problems and correct them before a complete implementation.”
“If the NPA doesn’t tinker slowly, the kind of confusion and chaos that will be introduced in the system could weigh more than they envisaged.”
He also underscored the consequences of a rushed-through policy.
“Are we going to turn people away who don’t have ID cards or what? Because once we start doing that, then it means that people are going to resort to alternative sources of energy like charcoal which will defeat our climate change mitigation efforts?”
