The Chief Executive Officer of the Chamber of Bulk Oil Distribution Companies (BDC), Senyo Hosi has cautioned government to stop subsidizing petroleum products to the detriment of the industry.
According to him pricing of petroleum prices is out of the control of the politician. ‘’Is high time we all accept some few things, pricing is out of control of the politician; please if you can’t do it, don’t talk about it,’’ he said.
This comes on the back of a warning from the chamber of an imminent shortage of petroleum products in Ghana due to government’s failure to pay the about GHC1.5 billion it owes the chamber .
According to the BDCs, they will soon not be able to supply petroleum products due to government’s inability to pay the bulk oil distribution companies (BDCs) from subsidies.
Speaking on Citi FM‘s news analysis and political programme, The Big Issue, Mr. Hosi warned that Ghana has ”less than a week” of fuel in store.
”We have less than a week now; I am pretty sure early next week we should be seeing no petrol here and there…,” he said.
He further stated that government cannot continue to subsidize for petroleum products when it does not have the money for it. ”You can’t come saying that you want to subsidize when you don’t have the funds for it; you don’t order what you can’t pay for,” he added.
Mr. Hosi advised government to stay out of the business of subsidizing or pricing and charge the right prices for fuel.
”The way to sort this thing out is to make sure we don’t keep bleeding; government should please stay out of pricing and charge the right thing so that people can have the product,” he noted.
The CEO of the chamber called for all the full implementation of the automatic adjustment without interference.
“It is important that as politicians, as a people we are honest about petrol pricing. No politician has control over petrol pricing. Those days are over,” he added.
‘’The subsidy is not sustainable; government hasn’t got the capacity, hasn’t got the fund for it,’’ he said.
He revealed that banks have denied them [BDCs] lines of credit because of the rising debt level.
Fuel prices were maintained after the national petroleum authority reviewed them on Monday.
The Bulk Distribution Companies (BDC’s) are a function of the National Petroleum Authority (NPA) whose primary mandate is to wholesale petroleum products and also to import finished products to augment finished output.
By: Evans Effah/citifmonline.com/Ghana