General News of Monday, 11 December 2017
Source: mynewsgh.com
2017-12-11
Abdul Malik Kweku Baako, Editor-in-Chief of the New Crusading Guide
Veteran journalist, Abdul Malik Kweku Baako has observed the country’s two largest political parties-the New Patriotic Party (NPP) and the National Democratic Congress (NDC) are all guilty of premix fuel diversions.
He disclosed that in 2016 alone, over 300 tankers of premix fuel were diverted and in the year 2017, 270 have also been diverted indicating that until the matter is depoliticized premix fuel diversion will never end anytime soon.
“No matter the efforts putting in place, there is a party intrusion. They think it is an entitlement. If their party is in power, their regional chairmen and the constituencies Chairmen jump inside ….they think it is their right. The cure has not been found because there is political manipulation. They talk about the need to stop but capture the initiative, capture the infrastructure and use it. It happened, yesterday, it is happening today and will happen in the future. There is too much money in it. Once the party is in power they jump into it….it is like galamsey”, he disclosed on Peace Fm.
According to him, there are better structures in place but the corruption in the sale of premix fuel is not allowing the systems to work efficiently.
“It’s like galamsey now. Party activists are involved, civil servants are involved”, he said.
Meanwhile, Chairman of the National Pre-mix Fuel Committee Nii Lantey Bannerman has stated categorically that his hands are clean as far as the diversion of premix fuel intended for fishermen in the country is concerned.
He explained that he had neither connived with Oil Marketing Companies nor Landing Beach executives to divert pre-mix fuel since he was appointed.
His comment follows complaints by the National Petroleum Authority(NPA) about massive diversions of pre-mix fuel loaded from the Tema Oil Refinery, leaving fishermen who are supposed to receive the fuel stranded.
Per the NPA’s numerous letters written to the National Premix Committee since the beginning of 2017, it has been established that about 200 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.
