LPG SHORTAGE WORRYING (SEPT 8, 2010)

THE shortage of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) in parts of the country has reared its ugly head again leaving untold hardships on the public.
The current problem has been blamed on the increasing demand of the product for commercial transportation, by especially taxi drivers, given the high cost of petrol. It is also a testimony that many Ghanaians have, indeed, embraced the public education on the use of the product as a measure to save the forest.
Although the introduction of LPG was intended to prevent the depletion of the country’s forest resources, anytime there is a shortage as is presently being experienced in Accra, Cape Coast, Kumasi, Tema, Tamale, and other areas, the situation culminates in long queues at the various vending stations.
As a result, both domestic and commercial users engage in near brawl situations over the jumping of queues, among other vices associated with the phenomenon. Quite apart from these, commuters, especially those in the nation’s capital find it extremely difficult getting to their destinations.
This requires that the Tema Oil Refinery (TOR) should be able to make the product available in large quantities to meet the demands of the people.
Another area that TOR should consider looking at seriously is the supply of kerosene as the shortage is affecting conditions of people living in rural communities who are not connected to the national grid.
The consequence of the shortage has been another thriving trade in kerosene in rural areas, where some people have been selling it to rural dwellers at cut-throat prices.
The DAILY GRAPHIC sympathises with the challenges facing the TOR in trying to meet the demands of consumers of LPG, kerosene and petrol on regular basis.
But since the products are key drivers of the national economy, it behoves TOR to explore further opportunities in collaboration with other stakeholders to make the products available at all times.
Perhaps the latest agreement that Ghana has signed with Equatorial Guinea for the supply of two million barrels of crude oil per annum should go a long way to resolve some of these nagging problems.
We concede that insofar as the price of petrol is high, many operators of commercial transport will convert to the use of LPG but we should, at least, regulate its use by commercial drivers.
Maybe, the time has come for a temporary ban on the conversion locally to allow for the use of LPG by only vehicles so designed by the manufacturers.
This, we believe, would give opportunity to the government to look at the supply of LPG and the category of users as a move to regularise the situation. While this is being done however, the DAILY GRAPHIC recommends to the government to begin looking at a long-term solution to the perennial shortage of gas in the country.
Now that majority of Ghanaians are using LPG as the best way to save the forest, the real solution to the problem is to ensure abundant supply of LPG at all times.
But until we get there, let us ensure that the little gas available is used for domestic purposes and also by vehicles so designed to do so and not by those which have been converted locally from the use of petrol or diesel to LPG gas.
The situation is critical and calls for immediate action.