Photo of BOST officials and CSOs on tour of the BOST depot in Bolgatanga
Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) in the energy sector have expressed satisfaction with work done so far by the Bulk Oil Storage and Transportation Company Limited (BOST) in Bolgatanga.
The CSOs described the workout by BOST as “satisfactory” following the increase in BOST margins from GHC 0.3pesewas to GHC 0.9pesewas.
Mr Kwadwo Poku, the Executive Director of the Institute for Energy Policies and Research (IEPR), a CSO, who spoke to journalists at the BOST depot in Bolgatanga, said even though they were satisfied with work done, there was the need for improvement.
Management of BOST held a performance assessment engagement with CSOs, and also toured the depot facilities in Bolgatanga, the Upper East Regional capital, with officials from CSOs in the energy sector.
Mr Poku said “Some of us in the CSO space want accountability from BOST for the margins that they collect. I don’t think it is fair on Ghanaians to always be asked to pay monies that we don’t know what the monies are used for.”
He said when the BOST margin was increased from GHC 0.3pesewas to GHHC 0.6pesewas and now GHC 0.9pesewas, some of the CSOs expressed concern, saying “We are not going to make it business as usual for the BOST margin to be collected and we don’t know what goes into it.
“There was a presentation that was done for us, and based on the presentation some of us lent our support to BOST receiving those monies, so some of us decided to come and see the work done.”
Mr Poku said the CSOs had several interactions with BOST, “They have their concerns we have critiqued them on some of the things we are not happy with, and going forward we think that they have taken our critique in good faith.
“The most important thing is that the money that we have paid is being used for what they say it will be used for,” he added.
Mr Poku called on BOST to construct more pipelines from Accra to the northern part of the country to help transport petroleum products across the country and reduce the pressure exerted by tanker vehicles on the roads.
He said the move would minimise the rate of road accidents and other risks involved in transporting petroleum products across the country, and also help consumers pay less as some of the elements added to the price would be reduced.
Nana Amoasi VII, the Executive Director of the Institute of Energy Security (IES) called for accountability on the use of the BOST margin in order to protect the public purse.
He said since the Buipe to Bolgatanga line was working it meant that the Bolgatanga BOST depot could work for both domestic supply and export, “When we go into export, it assures us of fuel security because we have enough to spare to other countries.”