Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) Marketing Companies Association of Ghana (LMCAG) has refuted assertions by the Chief Executive of the National Petroleum Authority (NPA), Dr Mustapha Abdul- Hamid, that its members are against the cylinder recirculation policy (CRM).

In a press statement signed by its Vice Chairman, Gabriel Kumi, the LMCAG said its position had always been the promotion of the use of LPG to protect the environment and indigenous business, and not to scuttle the CRM policy.

Such position, the association explained, was based on an agreement between the NPA and industry players that the CRM policy and refilling of LPG would operate side by side.

It also said it had made concrete suggestions to ensure that the CRM policy was sustained and also did not kill indigenous businesses, but such suggestions had fallen on deaf ears.  

“Our requests to mount cages in all our LPG stations across the country to support the policy by distributing CRM cylinders were vehemently turned down by the NPA. 

We, therefore, find it very ironic that the CEO will turn round and accuse us of being backward-looking and not wanting change,” the statement said.

Comments 

The CRM is a distribution system which allows consumers to bring empty cylinders to an agreed point in exchange for a filled cylinder whilst the empty bottle is transported to a bottling plant to be refilled and returned to the exchange point for pick up by other consumers 

Speaking at the 2024 Ghana International Petroleum Conference (GHIPCON) last Thursday, Dr Abdul-Hamid urged stakeholders, including LPG marketing companies, to embrace the CRM to ensure that it met its intended target.

Dr Hamid also highlighted the importance of adapting to changing times, citing the global shift towards the CRM model, and urged industry players to focus on strategies that would drive growth, efficiency and sustainability in the sector, rather than resisting change.

“I would urge you to reassess your opposition to the CRM policy because all across the world, very few countries still adopt the filling station concept as far as LPG distribution is concerned,” he said. 

Not against change 

However, the LMCAG said its members were not against change, but wanted all issues related to the policy to be adequately addressed.

“The LPG Marketing Companies Association and LPG Retailers Association have invested over $400 million in the industry, with around 60 per cent of this investment financed through bank loans.

These substantial investments made by indigenous Ghanaians over the past 25 - 30 years, cannot be sacrificed just on the altar of change,” the statement added. 

Again, the statement said the LPG industry employed more than 10,000 people, and therefore the issue of job loss associated with CRM must be adequately addressed.

“We are yet to be told the exact number of jobs that CRM could potentially create, and it will do all of us a lot of good if NPA could tell Ghanaians how many jobs CRM had created over the past one year of its launch,” the statement said.

The association further added that in other parts of the world where the CRM had been implemented, indigenous businesses were adequately compensated, but this had not been the case of the country.

“We urge the CEO of NPA to respectfully desist from such needless attacks on indigenous Ghanaian businesses; as such attacks inflame passions and have the potency to result in industrial disharmony,” the statement added.