According to the Chief Executive Officer of the National Petroleum Authority (NPA), Hassan Tampuli, the price surge could largely be attributed to the recent hurricanes that ravaged the United States of America.

“For the past many years, at this time of the year, prices will normally come down after the summer driving season. In the summer driving season, where there is no winter, people go out of their houses, they go on vacation, crisscrossing their country and then the demand on products increases…it is different this time because of the unfortunate national disaster that we have in the United States, especially, which has led to the diversion of [fuel] products from Europe meant for south, west and central African countries to the Americans,” Mr. Tampuli said on Wednesday at a press conference.

Fuel prices hit all-year-high

[contextly_sidebar id=”poGDKqqKi4t0uMj1m9QGAHEnH0oPmPJQ”]Fuel prices have hit all-year-high in September, with petrol selling at an average price of GHc4.29 at the pumps, and diesel going for an average of GHc4.23 per litre.

Analysts have posited that the surge in fuel prices could be among other things be as a result of crude oil price on the international market, as well as the depreciation of the Ghanaian currency – the cedi.

Reduce taxes on fuel prices

Some have also complained that the numerous taxes on petroleum products, could have led to a surge in prices, and have thus called on government to review them.

But Mr. Tampuli defended the taxes saying they help to stabilize the prices within the country. He also said government does not benefit from the taxes saying they are in the interest of consumers.

Hurricane Harvey, Irma and all in-between

Climate change in recent times led to some massive hurricanes – Harvey, Irma, others —hitting some states in the US.

The storms, which were so violent, were said to have destroyed properties worth millions of dollars. Some US states were cut off from social amenities including electricity due to the storms.

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

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Entry is being restricted to residents and business owners as work continues to clear roads and check the state of bridges linking the islands.

Nearly 6.9 million homes were without power in Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina and Alabama.

Irma, which has since rapidly weakened, is being linked to 11 deaths in the US.

Why was Florida spared worst of Irma?
Seven people died in Florida, three in Georgia and one in South Carolina, according to US media.

The storm also left a trail of destruction in the Caribbean, where at least 37 people were killed.

French President Emmanuel Macron has arrived in the region and is to visit devastated French islands, while UK Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson is heading to the British Virgin Islands.

Both France and Britain have been criticised for not doing enough to help their nationals in overseas territories affected by the hurricane.

Dutch King Willem-Alexander spent Monday night on the Dutch side of St Martin, an island shared between France and the Netherlands.

The Dutch royal told the NOS public newscaster: “I have seen proper war as well as natural disasters before, but I’ve never seen anything like this.”

Florida Governor Rick Scott used the same word – “devastation” – after flying over the Keys on Monday.

“I just hope everybody survived,” he said. “It’s horrible what we saw.”

“We saw a lot of boats washed ashore and we saw any, basically, any trailer park there overturned.”

The Federal Emergency Management Agency estimates one in four homes in the Keys has been destroyed and that 60% were damaged.
Thousands of people ignored calls to evacuate last week, and clung on in the dangerously exposed islands during the storm.
However, Governor Scott added: “I didn’t see the damage I thought I would see.” Storm surges had turned out to be “not as bad as we thought”, he said.

Teams are still working to clear Highway 1, the road connecting most of the inhabited islands, and bridge inspections are continuing.

Some residents were allowed into the towns of Key Largo, Tavernier and Islamorada on Tuesday morning, authorities in Monroe Country said.

They were warned that services on the islands were limited: most areas were still without power and water, mobile phone signals were patchy and most petrol stations were still closed.

The US aircraft carrier Abraham Lincoln has arrived off Florida and other navy ships were in the area on Tuesday to help distribute food to the Keys and evacuate residents.

In Jacksonville, Mayor Lenny Curry said 356 people had to be rescued amid record-high storm surges and flooding, the Florida Times-Union reported.

A Jacksonville Pizza Hut sparked online backlash after a manager threatened to punish employees who evacuated too early for Irma.

“You cannot evacuate Friday for a Tuesday storm event!” the restaurant’s manager told employees in a notice, which was shared online.

Jacksonville officials began ordering a mandatory evacuation for parts of the city on Friday.

In a statement, Pizza Hut said the manager who posted the notice did not follow company guidelines.

Other parts of the state escaped the storm lightly compared to the Caribbean islands.

“The storm surge flooding in Miami is a mere fraction of what would have happened if the core of the storm had been further east,” Rick Knabb, former director of the National Hurricane Center, said in a tweet.

Returning to her home in Miami’s Little Haiti neighbourhood, evacuee Melida Hernandez, 67, found her home split down the middle by a tree.

“I wanted to cry, but this is what it is, this is life,” she told Reuters news agency.

President Donald Trump has released emergency federal aid for Florida, describing the hurricane as a “big monster”.
The storm was downgraded as it moved north towards Atlanta, Georgia, with maximum sustained winds of 35mph (56km/h) recorded, the National Hurricane Center (NHC) said in a statement.

Another hurricane, Jose, has been weakening over the western Atlantic, with swells due to affect parts of Hispaniola (the island split into Haiti and the Dominican Republic), the Bahamas, and the Turks and Caicos Islands, later this week.

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Source: BBC

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The small island of Barbuda is said to be “barely habitable”. Officials warn that St Martin is almost destroyed, and the death toll is likely to rise.

Irma, a category five hurricane, the highest possible level, is passing north of Puerto Rico.

Two other storms have strengthened to become hurricanes.

More than half of the island’s three million residents were without power as Irma caused heavy downpours and strong winds. Officials have said that power could be cut off for several days.

The most powerful Atlantic storm in a decade had wind speeds of 295km/h (185mph) and was expected to pass near or just north of the coast of the Dominican Republic on Thursday.

Hurricane Irma first hit the dual-island nation of Antigua and Barbuda. At least one death, of a child, was reported on Barbuda, where Prime Minister Gaston Browne said about 95% of the buildings had suffered some damage.

“It’s absolute devastation,” he said after flying over the island, home to some 1,600 people. “The island is literally under water. In fact, I’m of the view that, as it stands now, Barbuda is barely habitable.”

Significant damage was also reported in the Dutch section of St Martin, known as Sint-Maarten.

Sint-Maarten’s airport, the third largest in the Caribbean, has been destroyed.

US President Donald Trump said he and his aides were monitoring Irma’s progress. “But it looks like it could be something that will be not good. Believe me, not good,” he told reporters at the White House.

Projections suggest it could hit the state of Florida on Sunday.

Officials started evacuations of tourists and residents of Florida Keys, a resort archipelago.

Flights to and from several airports in Florida were being suspended, while Orlando’s international airport said that commercial flights would stop from 17:00 local time on Saturday.

A state of emergency had been declared for Florida, Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands, mobilising federal disaster relief efforts.

British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson said the government was in touch with British overseas territories caught up in Irma, and was doing “everything we can to help those afflicted”.

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Source: BBC

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