Implementation of the Cylinder Recirculation Model (CRM) by National Petroleum Commission (NPA) will ensure that at least 50 percent of Ghanaians have access to safe, clean and environmentally-friendly Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) by 2030.
Chief Executive Office of the NPA, Hassan Tampuli, announced this at a stakeholder engagement on cylinder recirculation policy at Tamale in the Northern Region.
He said successful implementation of the policy will help curb rapid deforestation arising from reliance on wood fuel or firewood, which is fast depleting the national forest cover. It will also ensure the availability of robust and standard health, safety and environmental practices in the production, marketing and consumption of LPG in the country.
He stressed that over the years, the Ghana petroleum downstream industry has witnessed a number of unfortunate accidents as a result of the misuse and inappropriate handling of petroleum products – especially LPG, hence the campaign.
According to him, the policy when implemented, will help develop a market-driven structure to ensure safety, increase access and adoption of LPG, enhance the capacity of existing regulatory institutions in order to enforce the regulatory requirements of the new market structure, and ensure the existence of robust and standard Health, Safety and Environmental practices in the production, marketing and consumption of LPG.
Available data show that in 2018 the country consumed 288,328,785 kilogrammes of LPG. Of this, the Northern Region accounted for four percent, with only one percent attributed to the Upper East Region.
This, according to the NPA, shows there is more room for LPG usage in northern parts of the country.
Themed ‘CRM: Securing our safety, creating more jobs’, the stakeholder meeting was aimed at educating the public on the policy and brought together various stakeholders.
The Cylinder Recirculation Model (CRM) is the implementation model for the National LPG Policy, and it is aimed at providing direction for marketing and distribution of LPG in a safe and efficient manner, so as to facilitate an increase in access to LPG nationwide.
Vice Chairman of LPG Marketers Association, Gabriel Kumi, was confident that the initiative will help create more jobs for the youth.
He said massive awareness creation will continue being spread to educate rural dwellers, especially, on the benefit of using LPG.
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Source: B&FT
