General Manager, Communications & external affairs of Bulk Oil Storage and Transportation Company Limited (BOST) Mr. Adjei Marlick has debunked claims made by some tanker drivers that its operations is facing enormous challenges.
The tanker drivers had petitioned President Nana Akufo-Addo about the lack of fuel for them to cart for close to a year now, rendering some of its members jobless.
According to him, his outfit is getting better with asset utilisation, which has improved immensely from 15 per cent to 85 per cent within two years coupled with the prudent management of its two pipelines and four barges pivotal in the carting of fuel from the south to north, which has increased the workload of fuel tankers.
“Efficient resource utilisation and focused management have resulted in a full repair of all four river barges that were grounded and the two pipelines which had been out of use for close to five years. The barges are in full utilisation, and the Buipe-Bolgatanga Petroleum Product Pipeline is in full use. The Tema-Akosombo pipeline will also be back on stream by close of the third quarter. As a result of this, load for the tankers has reduced as it is faster and quicker for the company to cart fuel to the northern part of the country via pipelines and barges,” he explained on the maiden edition of ‘Ebaanosen’ on Plan B FM with Bohyeba Afriyie
He therefore urged the public to disregard claims by the tanker drivers. He said BOST is being managed by experienced and competent board of directors.
Meanwhile, the Chairman of Bulk Tanker Drivers Union, Clement K. Ampadu has accused George Nyaonu, BOST Tanker drivers Chairman of acting in bad faith with his allegations of lack of fuel faced by BOST.
“These allegations by Nyaonu against BOST is borne out of greed and wickedness; it pains me that most of my drivers have been rendered jobless and are currently at home. I was expecting him to come out and plead on behalf of all the Unions to get a fair share of the fuel cart not for his own benefit. The allegations are unfounded and should not be taking seriously” he remarked on the same show
Maame Efua Dapaa, a guest on the show quickly added that, “BOST has been a victim of its own success, and it’s evident in what the communications manager said. If you look at the US, the use of pipelines is very high compared to trucks and it has a lot of advantages. The allegation of fuel shortages is untrue. This is a state institution, and I don’t think BOST will come and lie to Ghanaians. BOST has moved the transportation of significant volumes of fuel from road to pipelines, which is an advancement in technology to make things easier, faster and more efficient. This is going to help the country to save lots money from going waste, we need to commend BOST for this. However, I think they need to engage the Unions to find an amicable solution to this” she said
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