<<Print>>

Liquefied Petroleum Gas is expected to be on the market by close of day Friday, the National Petroleum Authority has confirmed. The good news comes after days of shortage that saw consumers, both domestic and commercial, rummage towns in search of the product. Public Relations Officer of the Authority, Yaro Kasambata, told Joy News a vessel full of LPG has arrived and will be discharged at the Tema Oil Refinery. The supply will hopefully ease the pressure and pain users of the product have gone through these past few days. Prof of Linguistics at the University of Ghana, Ohene Agyekum could no longer hide his frustration having combed several distribution centres in Accra for the product but with no success. He told Joy News there is no reason for gas, which ought to have been a necessity, to become a national crisis. Prof Agyekum attributed the acute shortage to lack of proper planning by technocrats and politicians. He wondered what the situation would have been for him if the university was not on vacation, especially when he has students to teach at all times. If the assurances of the NPA PRO are anything to go by, the product would be made available on Friday. �By tomorrow morning LPG will start going to the market and hopefully the supply situation will improve as we go for the weekend,� he said. Meanwhile, aide to President Mills, Nii Lantey Vanderpuiye has said government has done a lot in terms of gas supplies but attributed the shortage to the increase in commercial use of the product. �The gas shortage is not as a result of shortage of the product in the system as at now but the fact is that we are having an increasing demand,� he said. He said government cannot continue to subsidise the prices of gas only for commercial transport users to take undue advantage of. He said the government is temporarily considering designated points for commercial usage which will have a different price and other points for domestic users to buy the product which will also have a different price.