Cylinder re-circulation will render 7000 jobless – Gas distributors

The Ghana Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) Operators Association has alleged more than 7,000 people will lose their jobs if government goes ahead with its Cylinder Recirculation Module (CRM).

President Akufo-Addo last year, in the aftermath of the ghastly gas explosion at Atomic junction, Madina a suburb of Accra ordered the implementation of the cylinder recirculation module.

The program will stop LPG outlets from filling empty gas cylinders as part of measures to stop gas explosions. LPG bottling plants outside commercial centers will fill the cylinders for sale at the retail outlets.

Addressing a press conference on Monday May 7, 2018, the president of the Association, Togbe Adaklu V said they are “vehemently opposed” to the policy because it will render more than 7000 of them jobless.

Currently, he said there are about 601 LPG filling Stations across the country with direct employment of about 3000 and indirect employment of about 4000 people.

“This Cylinder Recirculation Module policy is designed to deprive us of our economic rights and its implementation will make it impossible for us to pay back our loans from the banks,” Togbe Adaklu V stated.

The policy, according to him, is “directly inconsistent” with the government’s policy to support the private sector to create jobs, alleging that the module was deliberatedly created to render them unemployed replacing them with multinational companies in the LPG retailing sector.

The module, he said cannot prevent gas explosion if that is the sole reason why it is being introduced. “In fact, we have many instances of gas explosions in countries running the CRM (Cylinder Recirculation Module), the module is an ill-prepared policy and it is bound to fail,” he said.