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

The NPA, has only complained about massive diversions of pre-mix fuel loaded from the Tema Oil Refinery, leaving fishermen who are supposed to receive the fuel stranded.

[contextly_sidebar id=”ipFLZsFaJ7oeLrKpXoZenAXhNZh5b4aR”]Per the NPA’s numerous letters written to the National Premix Committee since the beginning of 2017, it has  been established that premix fuel consignments loaded from the Tema Oil Refinery, were not delivered to the intended destinations indicated on the invoices and returns of the OMCs.

This comes on the back of the country’s dwindling fish stock which has compelled government to import over 600,000 metric tonnes of fish annually.

But speaking on the Citi Breakfast Show on Monday over the development, the Chairman of the Pre-mix Fuel Committee, Nii Lantey Bannerman, seemed helpless, and would not take any blame for the situation, although landing beach committees under its control, are found issuing voices even without receiving the consignments.

Nii Lantey Bannerman however called on the NPA to deal with the perpetrators.

“At the end of the day, the onus lies on the NPA to sanction. If you look at it well, the penalties charged go to the NPA. So we made it clear to the NPA that either they strip the OMCs of their licenses or prosecute. That thing doesn’t lie with us. It lies with the NPA as the regulator.”

“From where we sit, we don’t have the power to prosecute, we don’t even have the power to take on these OMCs, it lies with the NPA to do that. That mandate has been given to them, and we are executing was is expected of us,” he stressed.

Some of the diversions were legal 

Mr. Bannerman also noted that, some of the diversions captured by the NPA are as a result of re-allocation,  but said such instances are negligible compared to the magnitude of the diversions.

“There are re-allocations that also happen, and if NPA doesn’t update its system on time, it is captured as diversion. But we have records to show that some of them we issued reallocation because at the time of sending the fuel, some other area might be in dire need of it. It’s very negligible,” he added.

12 major diversions in January alone

A document sighted by the Citi News from the NPA indicated that, there were 12 major diversions of pre-mix fuel in January alone.

There have been over 200 diversions between January and October 2017.

Although the NPA identified the challenge, very little seem to have been done to arrest the situation.

Citi News has sighted series of letters from the NPA to the National Pre-mix committee, informing them about the diversions between February and October, but no action had been taken.

In one of the letters, the NPA said, “it was also noted that officials of the Landing Beach Committees (LBCs) of these intended destinations have signed and stamped the National Petroleum Authority (NPA) Fuel Delivery forms as having received the product. This constitutes a misrepresentation of the facts of the deliveries to the UPPF. In view of this, the UPPF Secretariate has rejected all freight claims in respect of these suspected diversions.”

It is unclear why the NPA which has the power to prosecute, has chosen to be writing letters for all these months, when the illegality still continues.

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, has 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.

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

The post Pre-mix fuel diversion: We can’t punish perpetrators – Committee appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

According to a Senior Research Scientist at the Ghana Space Science Technology Institute of the Ghana Atomic Energy Commission, Dr. Nana Ama Brown Klutse, taking cognizance of the biological makeup of women at the planning stages of educational activities will encourage more women to take up careers in science and technology.

[contextly_sidebar id=”igYo93X8CWEsZ8objSstyCoQOsiNoDvH”]Dr. Nana Ama Brown Klutse was speaking at a Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics workshop for Junior High School girls in Tarkwa in the Tarkwa-Nsueam Municipality in the Western Region, organized by Turning Point Advocacy, a non-governmental organization that focuses on child literacy, STEM education for girls, and women economic empowerment.

Dr. Klutse listed a number of challenges that confronts women to take up careers in science and technology.

She said, “the problem starts from the basic level where there is stereotyping in our schools, homes, in our communities. That aside, the biological makeup of women also distracts their academic work and their careers. We have the women supposed to be home kind of mentality among us especially when they are married, and are supposed to be taking care of the children, the home, the husband and all that. Combining that with career is not easy” she said.

She continued that “we have seen examples even in politics that there are more men in there than women. It’s not easy for a woman to be moving from town to town, city to city, village to village to campaign whilst leaving the children and husband at home and all that behind, it’s not an easy thing to do”.

To address these challenges, Dr. Nana Ama believes Ghana’s educational system must be developed with the biological makeup and contributions of women in mind.

She believes “planning examinations, planning quizzes, time to go to school and all that should be tailored towards the biological makeup of women. If during just one week examination or BECE, a girl or woman is having menstrual pain, it can be so painful that the child cannot write a paper or two. That can affect her future maybe for a lifetime” she lamented.

She concluded that “moving forward our job places should allow convenient time for women to go to work. It shouldn’t be strictly 8:30am to 4:30pm because the men are going to work at this time. Women should be given flexible time to work. It can still be the 8 hours but probably I can only go at 10:00am and close at 5:00pm or something”.
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By: Obrempong Yaw Ampofo/citifmonline.com/Ghana

The post Plan educational activities with women’s needs in mind – Research Scientist appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

AAPET will envelope two already-existing special initiatives being implemented by the Akufo-Addo administration; the Planting for Food and Jobs and One-District-One Factory.

[contextly_sidebar id=”pzHwekwARIgF32ycJUtzaHEnrtdpbCKL”]The Finance Minister, Ken Ofori Atta, delivering the budget statement in Parliament, explained that AAPET is envisioned “to modernize agriculture, improve production efficiency, achieve food security and increase profitability for our farmers.”

It is a three-pronged economic development programme that will accelerate investments in agriculture, strategic infrastructure and industrialization.

The government intends to “invest in the entire agriculture and agribusiness value chain to create new business and job opportunities in the sector,” Mr. Ofori Atta said.

“Government will also invest in infrastructure that supports the opening up of the major agricultural zones of the country, in energy and related infrastructure to accelerate the industrialization agenda of Government. Significant investments will be made in the road and rail sectors of the economy to facilitate trade and the movement of goods and people, he added.

AAPET has also made provision for a grant funding facility for agribusiness startups, with support from the National Entrepreneurship and Innovation Plan.

Infrastructure-wise, some 35 bridges and roads, will also be constructed over the next three years under this initiative. The government will also construct 99 steel bridges under this policy.

An already announced “major pension scheme for cocoa farmers” will also be launched under AAPET.

Boosting Planting for Food and Jobs

Planting for Food and Jobs, which is expected to to be rolled out in all 216 districts across the country, involves the supply of farm resources such seedlings to participating farmers, and its first phase targeted the creation of more than 750,000 jobs.

Mr. Ofori Atta noted that, investments under the Planting for Food and Jobs will be scaled up.

But the government wants AAPET to take numerous steps further, as duties on agriculture processing equipment are expected to be abolished along with support granted to agribusiness start-ups.

Minimizing the risk of agriculture financing will also be a target of the government, through agriculture financing and crop insurance schemes.

Funds from the Infrastructure for Poverty Eradication Programme (IPEP), could possibly be diverted to “increase the pace of agriculture mechanization,” according to the Finance Minister.

Support from One-District-One Factory

Given government’s anticipation of success, it also intends to develop modern storage facilities through the One-District-One Factory policy.

This is possibly in line with President Akufo-Addo’s April 2017 announcement that government will construct a warehouse in every district of the country to ensure the proper storage of surplus food produce from the flagship ‘Planting for Food and Job’ program, and prevent post-harvest losses.

Improving transport will not be left out, as the AAPET is expected to “open up key food basket zones through road construction and irrigation projects.”

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By: Delali Adogla-Bessa/citifmonline.com/Ghana

The post NPP’s ‘Special Economic Transformation Program’ to kick off in 2018 appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

Korleman, is one of the two farming communities that benefited from the station’s Help a Christmas Child Project.

Citi FM decided to construct a borehole for the over one thousand residents after it emerged they rely on just one borehole for their water needs, in order to provide them with easy access to water.

The request for the borehole to be built was made by the Chiefs and people of the area when the station threw a party for them in 2016, as part of its annual Help a Christmas Child Project.

The construction of the borehole is expected to alleviate the plight of the residents especially school children, who often walk long distances to fetch from just one borehole that serves the community.

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By: citifmonline.com/Ghana

The post Citi FM to inaugurate borehole for Korleman residents today appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

The court which hears commercial cases held the view that the suit could continue to be heard here in Ghana without any issues.

The judge, Justice Samuel Asiedu further awarded a cost of GH₵12,000 against IFC and OPEC Fund to be paid to be Quantum Oil.

IFC, in their stay application, sought to put on hold the hearing of the case against them and move it to the London Court of International Arbitration for an arbitration process.

According to them, the arbitration process was a clause in the governing loan agreement between the parties.

Background

The local Ghanaian company Quantum is demanding $41,319,123 in total damages from the two international bodies for allegedly failing to provide it with a $16-million loan facility which was agreed among the three entities.

The said loan was to be used by Quantum to construct a petroleum storage facility in Tema in 2012 to help it meet a National Petroleum Authority (NPA) regulation that required bulk oil distribution companies to construct their own storage facilities.

Before then, Quantum was storing its products in facilities at the Bulk Oil Storage and Transportation (BOST) Company Limited, which served notice to Quantum that it could not continue to store its products there from 2014, in line with the NPA directive.

According to Quantum, the amount includes fees and charges paid directly paid to IFC and OPEC Fund, fees and charges paid to various consultants at the direction of IFC and OPEC Fund and statutory fees paid by plaintiff to create charges for the benefit of IFC and OPEC Fund.

Quantum Oil said rather than assisting it to develop and grow its business, IFC and OPEC Fund rather worsened and reduced Quantum Oil’s business fortunes and prospects and in the process rendered Quantum Oil poorer than before.

According to Quantum Oil, unless otherwise compelled to do so by orders of the court, IFC and OPEC Fund will simply not take responsibility for the colossal damages they have willfully caused to Quantum Oil.

Reliefs

Quantum Limited is, therefore, asking the High Court to order the IFC and the OPEC Fund to disburse the loan, taking into consideration inflation rates within the period

It also wants general damages totalling $41,319,123 to compensate it for the escalation in the cost of the project, fees and charges that it paid directly to the two bodies, various consultancy fees, lost business revenue, among other demands.

It also wants punitive damages to compensate it for alleged discrimination by the two international bodies and damage to its business reputation.

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By Fred Djabanor/citfmonline.com/Ghana

The post Quantum Oil case against IFC to be heard in Ghana appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.