BOST-TSL contract is not under investigations – BOST Chairman

The Bulk Oil Storage and Transportation Company (BOST) has denied reports that the minister of energy, Emmanuel Buah has directed the setting up of a committee to look into issues surrounding BOST’s contract with Nigerian firm TSL.

Board Chairman of BOST, Kakra Asumoah disclosed this at a press conference to address the issues that have sprang up lately.

Earlier the chamber of bulk oil distributors in a press statement said the minister after meeting with them on Friday had agreed to set up a committee to look into the matter.

Kakra Asumoah says reports that the Energy minister has called for a committee to be setup is a lie.

 “I was in that meeting. There was no such thing from the minister. The minister expressed his fullest support for whatever we are doing to reinvigorate BOST. Please discard that. It is a lie”

Meanwhile the Managing Director of BOST, Kwame Awuah Darko indicates the BDCs proposal to operate a terminal is a nonstarter and will account for conflict of interest.

He indicates the BDCs have been given up to a year to propose how they will be able to run the terminals without breaching issues of a conflict of interest.

“If you operate as a BDC, we cannot allow you to operate our terminal, whether you are Ghanaian or whether not. BOST must remain an open system and we must avoid the conflict of interest that occurs when the local BDC or consortium of BDCs are given the BOST system to operate or even a foreign BDC”, he said.

According to him “part of the problem that we inherited was the issue of reconciliation. It was the reconciliation with BDCs and BOST. They said we have brought in these products, we said they have brought in this amount. The initial amount they were claiming was 54million dollars. If they were the ones operating those terminals, we would never have been able to negotiate it down to what is a more accurate figure of 33million dollars. Which means the state would have lost extra 21million dollars.”

Awuah Darko also indicates the contract with TSL included a clause indicating if they (TSL) wanted to go beyond the 12 month duration of the contract, they will have to become an indigenous company. This will mean ceding more than 50percent of ownership to Ghanaian(s).

The BOST boss, Awuah Darko went on challenge any of the BDCs to prove at least with a text message that they had shown interest in the contract that had been outsourced. Though he admitted the BDCs were not invited to bid because of the issue of conflict of interest, they had been made aware of the whole process but did not show any interest.

Issues have also been raised that the National Petroleum Authority had not registered TSL.

This Awuah Darko denies.

He indicates the regulator had fully approved its operations.

Meanwhile he expressed confidence that the new board was changing the face of BOST to make it more efficient in its operations.

By:  Kwaku Anim Boadu/citifmonline.com/Ghana