FUEL DEALS EXPOSED

A GOIL Tanker offloading fuel

By William Yaw Owusu

Thursday May 13, 2010
At a time when the government is struggling to get crude oil for the country, some workers at the Tema Oils Refinery (TOR) have formed syndicates to siphon fuel for sale, illegally at ridiculous prices.

Daily Guide investigations revealed that the syndicate is a well connected one, revolving around those filling the tankers, supervisors, the security and some tanker drivers and their owners.

The end results of their nefarious activities is that the refined oil be it petrol or diesel end up on the streets of Ashiaman Official Town Tanker Yard area where it is mostly offloaded.

It is brisk business at Official Town and is hugely patronized first by commercial drivers and their private counterparts. Even police vehicles and that of the military come around sometimes to enjoy the ‘rape’ from TOR.

It is an open secret on the streets of Ashiaman that fuel is sold cheaply at Official Town and the situation has become a source of worry for filling station proprietors who complain of slump in sales.

For instance a gallon of petrol and diesel are sold at GH¢ 5 .20 and GH¢5. 80 respectively is sold at a lower prices of between GH¢3. 8, GH¢ 4.2 and GH¢ 4.5 respectively at Official Town.

Sources at TOR told Daily Guide that the tankers are overfilled by the syndicate at the refinery and it was the duty of the driver to discharge the excess first before heading to their destinations.

When the Daily Guide visited the area which is very close to a popular field called ‘Kofi Nimoh Park’ it was evident that the nefarious activities have gone on for a very long time.

Young men popularly called ‘Bele Bele’ Boys control the business.

Fuel tankers that frequent the scene mostly belong to Ghana Oil Company (GOIL) and they operate all week with the exception of Sundays.

The minimum numbers of vehicles that discharge fuel daily at the makeshift garage are about eight.

GOIL tankers seen off loading fuel at the scene include GR 2093 Z, GN 2594-09, GE 1062 W, AS 2205N and GW 2230 V, among others.

There was GOIL seals scattered all over the place. The Daily Guide learnt that the seals are to be broken at official discharging points but the criminals break it, offload the fuel and fix similar seals there.

The streets appeared oily as a result of spillages on the ground and almost every household had uncountable number of yellow gallons (Kufuor gallons) filled with either petrol or diesel for sale.

Residents have created makeshift filling stations in their homes while others sell the fuel in gallons packed in many houses.

Any fire outbreak in the area is likely to cause catastrophe.

When contacted on telephone, Cyril Oppong, Public Relations Manager of GOIL said “I am not aware of what the tankers are doing. If confirmed then what they are doing are totally at odds with what GOIL tankers do.”

“The seals are security measures against tampering and should not be broken. It is only broken when it gets to its destination.”

Aba Lokko, Public Relations Manager of TOR, when contacted said she was on leave and was not in a position to comment on the matter. She instead referred Daily Guide to a national security operative for answers.

Also see: www.dailyguideghana.com