The Bulk Oil Storage and Transportation Company Limited (BOST), has refuted claims it failed to carry out due diligence in its award of contracts to Movenpiina and ZUPOIL with regards to the sale 5 million litres of contaminated fuel.
This claim was made by the Africa Centre for Energy Policy (ACEP).
Among the claims, against BOST, ACEP said the company’s management exhibited unreasonable discretion in the award of the contract to Movenpiina and ZUPOIL.
ACEP also held that, there was “a puzzle” about where ZUPOIL’s facility is located and that BOST had not put in place measures to monitor the movement of the product from ZUPOIL’s facilities to unsuspecting consumers.
But BOST retorted in a statement that its technical team inspected the facility of ZUPOIL “and was satisfied.”
Also, “the product released was going to be scheduled to reflect the capacity of the facility at any point in time,” the statement added.
“BOST deploys the use of bulk road vehicles that have tracking devices installed and have dully met the requirements of NPA to haul products. Thus, rendering BOST extremely responsible. Anyone with information on the illegal sale of the product at the pumps should report to the appropriate authority for immediate action.”
ACEP also challenged BOST to show the public where the ZUPOIL storage facilities are located but, BOST’s claims did not comment on that.
ACEP said Movenpiina initiated the transaction with BOST on 19th May, 2017, some ten days before it became a legally recognized company in Ghana.
Also, Movenpiina had not obtained the requisite license from the NPA to trade in the industry, according to the centre.
ZUPOIL LTD, the company which was named “the off-taker” was said to have a storage facility that could accommodate the volume of product, but was not known in Ghana’s petroleum industry.
Thus ACEP said it was illegal for BOST to have engaged Movenpiina and ZUPOIL LTD in the sale and storage of the off-spec petroleum product.
The claims follow the revelation Ghana is said to have lost about GHc 7 million in revenue following attempts by the BOST to sell the contaminated fuel to some oil marketing companies.
Documents sighted by Citi News indicate that, BOST agreed to sell about GHc 5 million litres of the contaminated fuel to Movenpiina.
Following the controversy, ACEP has called on the Chief Executive Officer of BOST, Alfred Obeng, to step aside for a full-scale investigation into the alleged sale of contaminated fuel.
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(Via: CitiFM Online Ghana)
