The Bulk Oil Storage and Transportation Company Limited (BOST), has announced the discovery of adulterated products at its Kumasi depot over the last couple of days.
It said nine Bulk Road Vehicles (tankers) have been held for carrying adulterated products to the depot pending investigations.
Managing Director of BOST, Edwin Provencal, told the media at a press conference in Kumasi that eight of the drivers had absconded but the trucks and their contents were intact.
He said as a standard practice, products were tested to confirm their chemical composition before they were loaded into trucks, and the process repeated upon arrival at their destinations before discharging them.
He said during the pre-discharge testing of a product aboard a truck, it was discovered that the chemical composition of the product at the destination differed from what was loaded on the truck.
“BOST made a call for confirmation testing, which proved that the result of the basic test was correct and that the product aboard the truck was adulterated,” he explained.
He said the truck and its content were being held at a safe place as investigations continued, adding that the driver was in custody assisting the investigative bodies to get to the bottom of the matter.
Further tests on subsequent products, according to him, revealed that eight more trucks also carried adulterated products, thereby holding them for investigation.
He assured the general public that no adulterated product would find its way into the tanks of BOST, much less get to the market due to the robust standard operating procedures.
“The company further wishes to assure the public that the reported incident has not affected our operations in any way and our fuel safety and security as a country is assured,” he stated. GNA