The Minority in Parliament has slammed government’s decision to set up a committee to probe the brouhaha surrounding the sale of 5 million liters of contaminated fuel by the Bulk Oil Storage and Transport (BOST) company to two unlicensed companies.
According to the former Power Minister, Dr. Kwabena Donkor the continuous stay of the Managing Director of BOST, Alfred Obeng Boateng in office would compromise any investigation carried out by the government.
The Energy Ministry on Wednesday set up an eight-member committee to investigate the circumstances leading to the sale of the contaminated fuel by BOST.
The Committee will be chaired by the sector Minister, Boakye Agyarko.
The membership of the committee is made up of officials drawn from the National Petroleum Authority (NPA), Ghana Standards Authority, Civil Society Groups and other stakeholders.
The Chamber of Petroleum Consumers Tuesday called for the prosecution of officials of BOST over the sale of the contaminated fuel and according to the NPA the companies that acquired the product are not licensed.
BOST had earlier sanctioned the sale of the contaminated fuel out of a number of options after considering that to be economically prudent and according to the Petroleum Chamber, a meeting convened by the NPA demanded that the transaction should be halted and a recall of some 421,000 liters of the fuel which had already been discharged.
But its investigations have proven that not a single liter of the contaminated fuel has been returned, with some being sold at some pumps across the country.
Speaking on Starr Today Wednesday, the Member of Parliament for Pru East said government’s decision to set up a committee may not unravel the entire truth in the saga unless the MD steps aside.
“What they [government] should have done first and foremost is his interdiction, followed by a probe so we can’t have a half way house…If the gentleman is still presiding over BOST, the investigation will be compromised because he has already sent people home on suspension over this issue, the very people who advised against the transaction, he has sent them home,” Dr. Donkor said.
