According to him, the consents of the aforementioned stakeholders are needed before the diversions are made and have nothing to do with the National Pre-mix Committee.

Citi News has cited several letters from the National Petroleum Authority (NPA) to the National Pre-mix Committee, revealing how the product meant for landing beaches never reach their intended destinations.

[contextly_sidebar id=”OwH3PM4ALsd7aN7JOYHqyGWTA5wYbZSc”]Over 200 of such cases have so far been recorded by the NPA since January 2017.

In a bid to curb the menace, which is said to have cost the country over GHc7 million because of the subsidy on the product, the National Pre-mix Committee however proposed for a cut down on the number of landing beaches.

But Mr Armah Quaye while speaking on the Citi Breakfast Show on Monday over the issue insisted that the diversions can end if the NPA holds all others in the supply chain responsible and punishes them accordingly.

“A landing beach alone cannot take the product and go and sell. When they want to divert pre-mix, the fact is that it should have the consent of the OMC, the landing beach and then the truck driver. So if pre-mix has been diverted, these are three people who should be held responsible and not the OMC alone.”

“…the pre-mix secretariat does not have the machine to be seeing the truck, only that they will be waiting for the truck to land at the landing beach and then the fishermen or the committee will testify that it has arrived. So it will be very difficult to hold the secretariat responsible.”

He further called for a dialogue among the stakeholders in the sector in a bid to have the issue addressed holistically.

“It is at least a chain. If you want to look at it in totality, we need to call for a stakeholders meeting between the Ministry of Energy, NPA, transporters, the landing beach and the oil marketing company so they can iron out such issue,” he added.

Give fishermen coupon

Dr. Charles Wereko-Brobby, who once served as policy adviser when the sale of pre-mix fuel for fisher-folk was instituted, has said the whole policy as currently exists must be scrapped.

Whilst the policy introduced in 1990 was intended to help fisher-folk, Mr. Wereko-Brobby said “the intent was badly executed.”

Dr. Wereko-Brobby proposed that fisher-folk be given coupons to buy the additives themselves instead of government subsiding the product.

“Fishermen should have been given coupons to buy the additives and mix it rather than creating a situation where you are supposedly making the pre-mix [for them]… so you don’t create a market for alternative uses.”

Coupons won’t solve issue

But Mr Armah Quaye said introducing the coupon is not the best solution to halt the pre-mix fuel diversions.

“We have about 14,000 canoes in the whole country only, 9,000 are currently operating…if you say we should go and buy coupon, what it means is that the fish on the open market is going to  be very expensive and that is why government is subsidizing the pre-mix for the fishermen. We started it about 25 years ago but it failed,” he added.

Premix fuel sector gold mine for party executives – Inland Fisherman

Chairman of the National Inland Canoe Fishermen Council, Jacob Tetteh Ageke, had suggested that political party executives in various constituencies are involved in the act, adding that they profit hugely from the mismanagement of the distribution.

Mr. Owusu confirmed this, reminding the NPA to be tough regardless of political influence.

“The issue lies with NPA. NPA has to be tough irrespective of whoever is there because these are political people who have taken a position in this premix issue so it is very risky as an authority trying to stamp your authority on these things. I believe the NPA can do more. “

Pre-mix fuel diversion: We can’t punish perpetrators – Committee

Meanwhile, the Chairman of the National Pre-mix Fuel committee, Nii Lantey Bannerman, has said his outfit does not have the power to sanction persons who divert subsidized premix fuel meant for fishermen to other areas to be sold to industries.

According to him, only the National Petroleum Authority (NPA) can sanction or withdraw the licenses of the Oil Marketing Companies (OMCs) who perpetrate such acts.

OMCs making abnormal profit from diversions

The government is spending several millions of cedis subsidizing the cost of premix fuel for fishermen, who are buying it at Gh7.20 pesewas per gallon.

Per Citi News’ calculations, the diversions from January to October alone have cost the country about 7 million cedis.

However, there are reports that those diverting the product are selling it to industries about two times the price, thereby creating artificial shortages in the fishing communities, and denying fishermen their due.

Below is a list of instances of pre-mix fuel diversion

Fishing industry collapsing

This is happening at a time when fishing communities in need of the fuel hardly get access to it due to its shortage and high cost in their respective areas.

The lack of the product in these communities affects the activities of fisherfolks, eventually leading to fewer catches, allowing excess importation of fish and fish products from other countries.

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By: Godwin Akweiteh Allotey/citifmonline.com/Ghana
Follow @AlloteyGodwin

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