The Chief Executive Officer of the National Petroleum Authority (NPA), Moses Asaga says Ghanaians can afford the 28 pesewas increment on petroleum prices.<\/p>\n
He indicated that if there was no increment, the general public would have no fuel to power their generators in this era where electricity is being rationed.<\/p>\n
[contextly_sidebar id=”SwIi6mHPhH7Eu0YLl7lYd36yd4X2Y5C2″]\u201cAs we talk now, people can now afford at least the 28 pesewas addition\u2026but if we didn\u2019t do that, then all your generators will not run because there will be no fuel and even if there was fuel, there will be hoarding and you will even pay double the price,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
The use of generators to power homes, businesses and industries has become the norm over the last three years due to the worsening energy crisis.<\/p>\n
About 13,000 workers have been laid off since the beginning of 2015 and it has been estimated that about 50,000 workers will lose their livelihoods if the power\u00a0crisis is not resolved\u00a0by close of year.<\/p>\n
The Institute of Statistical, Social and Economic Research\u2019s (ISSER) last week disclosed that Ghana loses about $2.2 million daily\u00a0and $686.4 million annually due to the power crisis.<\/p>\n
Therefore with the announcement of a 9% increment in petroleum prices, many have questioned government\u2019s sensitivity towards its citizens who are struggling to keep their businesses afloat.<\/p>\n
But speaking on the Citi Breakfast Show<\/strong>, Moses Asaga said because the government is considerate, it refused to increase the price of the Residual Fuel Oil industries use.<\/p>\n \u201cFor them, we didn\u2019t even change the price because we want industry to be moving,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n He justified the 9% increment with the explanation that, it would have resulted in fuel shortages.<\/p>\n \u201cIf we had not increased the liter by 28 pesewas and has allowed shortages to come in, the dumsor problem would have been worse for those with generators because you cannot get diesel of petrol to put in your generator.\u201d<\/p>\n According to him, his outfit took cognizance of the \u201cimminent shortages that we were anticipating, we decided that it was better to increase it by 28 pesewas, allow availability of product on the market so that everybody will at least lead a meaningful, comfortable life.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWe are not saying it is the best but under challenges and difficulty; you have to take well calculated decisions.\u201d<\/p>\n Akufo-Addo’s criticisms unfair<\/strong><\/p>\n Moses Asaga however accused opposition leader Nana Akufo-Addo of dishonesty in his criticism over the recent increase in the prices of petroleum products.<\/p>\n Moments after the NPA announced a 9% increment in prices of petrol, diesel, LPG and Kerosene, Nana Akufo-Addo who is in Germany on a 16-day tour Europe, accused government of been insensitive to the plight of ordinary Ghanaians.<\/p>\n He argued that the increment cannot be justified in the face of the crippling power crisis.<\/p>\n But Asaga justified the increment and described the comments by Nana Addo as unfair.<\/p>\n He said: \u201cIn Germany, a gallon of petrol sells for 6$, in Amsterdam where we import our product from, a gallon of petrol sells for $6.48 cents. In Ghana, with the new increase, it sells for $3.30 cents and in the UK, it sells at $7.68 cents so I thought that Nana Akufo-Addo should be looking back and say \u2018your country is even better – you are paying much more than what we pay in Ghana\u2019 but nobody mentioned it.\u201d<\/p>\n Although he admitted that the income level in Germany cannot be compared to Ghana, he insisted that \u201cif Ghana was at $6 per gallon, then you can then say that, \u2018yes, our income is lower.\u201d<\/p>\n Asaga advised that when talking about international pricing, there is the need to be a \u201clittle careful in the analysis.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWe must commend our system to say that because our economy is not as big, that is why we have been discounted,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n By: Efua Idan Osam\/citifmonline.com\/Ghana<\/p>\n