National Democratic Congress (NDC) Member of Parliament for Bongo Constituency, Edward Bawa, has alleged that the committee set up to investigate the Bulk Oil Storage and Transportation Company’s (BOST) contaminated fuel saga, never met as suggested by the Energy Minister.<\/p>\n
The 8-member investigative committee was set up to determine the circumstances that led to controversial sale of 5 million litres of contaminated fuel to two unlicensed firms.<\/p>\n
[contextly_sidebar id=”AUL5ai1AU8zXRiC3zGLIKB8SrhuV9PxD”]It was also tasked to determine the circumstances that created the off-spec product and review the procedures undertaken by BOST to evacuate the product, among others, and subsequently submit its report to Parliament.<\/p>\n
According to Mr. Bawa, the committee was given two weeks to conclude its investigations and advise the Minister on the way forward, however after five months since its constitution, the committee\u2019s report is yet to be made public.<\/p>\n
The Energy Minister, Boakye Agyarko, in assigning reasons for this delay in Parliament, had revealed that members of the committee had asked for extensions to help them bring other experts on board to assist them in their work.<\/p>\n
\u201cMr. Speaker, the committee sat, yes, their report is delaying, but on three occasions, they asked the Ministry for extension in order to bring in pipeline, engineering experts to aid their work. All that Mr. Speaker has been completed as indicated previously, and I can assure you that as soon as the white paper is docked, I will release the report and make them available,\u201d Mr. Boakye Agyarko stated in Parliament.<\/p>\n
But Mr. Bawa who is not convinced with Mr. Agyarko\u2019s response, insisted that the committee had not even met, adding that there was no report to submit despite assurances from the Minister.<\/p>\n
\u201cBased on certain pieces of information I have gotten from persons close to the Ministry, it is my contention that this committee actually never met and there is no report that exists,\u201d Mr. Bawa insisted.<\/p>\n
The MP, on Eyewitness News<\/strong>,\u00a0 challenged the Minister to \u201cproduce a report and give minutes\u201d of the committee’s sittings to prove that it indeed sat.<\/p>\n Bawa\u2019s claims untrue \u2013 C\u2019ttee member<\/strong><\/p>\n Meanwhile, a member of the committee, Kofi Kapito of the Consumer Protection Agency, has dismissed Mr. Bawa\u2019s claims.<\/p>\n Speaking on Eyewitness News<\/strong>, Mr. Kapito said \u201cit is a total lie for Mr. Bawa to suggest that we did not meet as a Committee on the matter.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cAs a member of the committee, I can produce the weeks, the dates and the number of dates that we sat. This is why I am disappointed that a whole MP will have the audacity to make such a statement when he doesn\u2019t have the facts. I was a member of the committee and I have the facts,” Mr. Kapito insisted.<\/p>\n –<\/p>\n By: Marian Ansah\/citifmonline.com\/Ghana
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