The National Petroleum Authority (NPA) has confirmed and justified the $63,000 spent monthly as rent for offices at the East Legon residential area.
The Minority in Parliament at a press conference on Thursday accused the NPA of spending about $63,000 a month as rent for its facility at East Legon.
Speaking on Eyewitness News, the Spokesperson for the NPA, Yaro Kasambata justified the amount, describing it as “necessary and urgent.”
He explained the NPA relocated from Cantonments to East Legon because it had the security and safety of its employees at heart.
“If you had friends who have worked at the NPA, they would tell you that they could see that the [former NPA] building was developing cracks,” Mr. Kasambata added.
According to him, the former NPA building which was originally designed to accommodate a maximum number of 16 people was after a period of time overburdened to accommodate over 200 employees of the Authority, thus contributing the problem.
He revealed that the Authority as a means of cutting down cost, intends to sublet a section of its present facility to another tenant in order to recoup its money.
“The present location is equally a four-storey building but the space is bigger, it can accommodate the current staff of the Authority which is a little over 200.We can still have some space available and the plan by management is to sublet that extra space to another tenant so that we can recoup some of our money,” Mr. Kasambata explained.
Mr. Kasambata pointed out that the NPA will not have to pay $63,000 for accommodation after the NPA sublets the facility.
Asked whether the amount of money spent on the NPA’s accommodation was a prudent use of resources, Mr. Kasambata responded that “it was a reasonable decision.”
By: Marian Efe Ansah/citifmonline.com/Ghana