Togbui Adaku V
LPG users in the country were on tenterhooks last weekend not knowing whether the Togbui Adaku V-controlled LPG Operators Association was going to make good its threat of withholding the sale of the product or not.
There was an avoidable pressure on some of the LPG outlets as a result of the social media propelled announcement as users whose supplies were getting exhausted rushed for replenishment.
Be it as it may, the Togbe must consider the cost of such threats – this not being the first time that Ghanaians have had to endure the stress of a strike threat by the association.
It is all about a selfish reaction to Cabinet-approved responses to the 12th October 2017 Atomic Junction gas explosion.
We wonder whether the Togbui expected government, a responsible one at that, to fold its arms without rolling out measures to obviate a recurrence of LPG related explosions in the country. Only irresponsible governments would ignore such fatalistic occurrences and not think out appropriate responses.
As citizens engaged in business activities, we should be mindful about the interest of the nation even as we are protective about our profit margins. We are dealing with a highly flammable stuff and international best practices must guide our operations to avoid explosions and related costs.
Those who stand in the way of change that would in both long and short runs inure to the interest of the nation should be considered selfish and shot down in their parochial efforts such as the LPG Operators Association seek to do.
Those who do not meet the safety standards as set out by the National Petroleum Authority (NPA) should have their depots shut unless they are ready to be registered as auto gas filling spots or any other facilities as prescribed by the agency.
We should, as Ghanaians, respect laid-down regulations because these are in both our national and individual interests.
We endorse the measures taken to ensure the safety of Ghanaians and condemn those who seek to hold the country to ransom.
The conversation is about the overall benefits the measures hold in store for the country in which LPG penetration in homes is a mere 25%; something which could rise to double that statistics under the new measures on the verge of being rolled out.
Who would oppose a novelty which would augment the number of persons employed in the sector from a figure close to 3500 to two-fold? Only the selfish would because for them, it is about ‘me’ and not ‘us’.
The Cylinder Recirculation Model (CRM) is an effective system borne out of a meticulous study on how to make the use of LPG safe for domestic use and to increase the penetration of the patronage.
The tragedy which visited the country at the Atomic Junction gas station will not recur if the measures being resisted by the LPG Operators Association are allowed to work.
Those who want to remain in the sector as actors must abide by the new measures.
Let not the policymakers and regulators be cowed by the threats of those who are concerned more about their profit margins than the safety of the citizens and their properties.