INCREASE IN BLACK MARKET FUEL TRADE ALONG ACCRA – KUMASI HIGHWAY
Travelling from Accra to Kumasi by road, one cannot fail to observe the number of branded fuel stations operating on the highway. The number gives the impression of a vibrant and well-regulated industry which is a plus to the National Petroleum Authority.
Suddenly, the beauty of this impression begins to suffer a harsh disturbance as wide high rising plastic screens begin to appear on the sides of the road at the outskirts of Anyinam in the Eastern Region. Behind these screens that resemble hoardings for construction sites, illegal sale of petroleum products takes place. They are products siphoned from cross-country fuel transporters and some local long-distance transporters into surface tanks and sold at cheaper prices. These products apart from sometimes being adulterated and contaminated, the trade along the highways poses danger to road users and travellers.
The number of these giant screens increases once one crosses the Pra river at Dadieso into the Ashanti Region. Screens give way to wooden structures with barrels mounted with funnels in front along the route from Asankare towards Juaso. One wonders what the mandate of the National Petroleum Authority is in controlling these illicit trade. Again, when NPA officials travel by this route and see these activities, what occupies their thoughts.
The National Petroleum Authority (NPA) is the statutory Agency in Ghana with the responsibility to regulate, oversee and monitor the petroleum downstream industry, whilst ensuring efficiency, growth, and stakeholder satisfaction.
The stated objectives and functions of the NPA as found on their website include, to monitor and regulate petroleum prices in accordance with the prescribed pricing formula, grant licenses to service providers and marketing companies, protect consumers’ interests, and maintain the highest standards of petroleum products offered to them.
It is hoped that the NPA will rise up to their mandate and stump out this illicit trade in time before it becomes difficult to control in the near future.
Source: kessbenonline.com
