The
operation is in collaboration with the security agencies, targeting table top
sellers of petrol and diesel in the Kumasi metropolis and Ejisu municipality.
Three
dealers engaged in the illegal trade in suburbs of Kumasi were arrested on the
first day of the exercise on Tuesday.
The fuel
vendors sell petrol in gallons by the streets and other established locations,
where fuel is placed in drums and served with the use of huge funnels to fill
up gallons and vehicles of clients that turn up.
The
NPA believes these table top dealers are either selling products at unapproved prices
or engaged in adulteration of products to make higher profit margins.
“We
cannot tell at this stage where they get their products from but clearly from
the distribution cycle in the industry, no BDC [Bulk Distribution Company] will
supply products to peddlers,” noted Yaro Kasambata, Head of Public Relations and
Consumer Services at the NPA.
The
NPA Act prohibits any person, other than one licensed under the Act, from being
in possession of a petroleum product in quantities unreasonably in excess of
that person’s immediate requirement.
The
fear is that these illegal sales of petroleum products could lead to fire explosions
as the dealers of the highly inflammable fuel operate with no safety measure.
Mr.
Kasambata says the ongoing operation is to uphold the quality, pricing and safety
in retailing of petroleum products.
“We
are doing this to ensure that we can sanitize the downstream industry,” he
stated. “We want to ensure that standards are applied across board in all
aspects of the industry.”
The
clamp down will be extended to other parts of the country.
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