Dirty fuel: BOST staff support Managing Director

Unionised workers of the Bulk Oil Storage and Transportation Company Limited (BOST) have given their full support to their Managing Director, Alfred Obeng Boateng, amidst growing calls for his interdiction.

The workers said the recent brouhaha over some contaminated fuel allegedly on the Ghanaian market is only a plot to discredit the MD and tarnish his hard-earned reputation.

The workers said the phenomenon of off-spec contaminated fuel is nothing new to BOST and in this particular deal, the relevant stakeholders such as the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) were consulted.

According to them, the price per litre of the fuel sold is one of the best in the pricing history of the company.

Addressing the media in Accra on Thursday 29 June, the Secretary of the unionised workers, Godfred Newton Amo, said the staff of BOST are solidly behind their MD as he has proven to have the best interest of BOST at heart.

He said: “We wish to state that the sale of off-spec products is not new to the operations of BOST. BOST receives requests from dealers of off-spec products and this dates back to 2014, 2015 and 2016, but in all situations, we saw nothing untoward. The same processes were followed in this particular one that we believe has been blown out of proportion.

“The unionised staff of BOST are solidly behind the MD because we believe the agreed selling price, GHS1.30, is very competitive. We wish to establish that the stakeholders were consulted in the processes leading to the sale of this product...

“We believe that this misinformation is a deliberate attempt to destroy the integrity of the MD and most importantly stop the MD from going ahead with the ongoing probe in the numerous malfeasances in the past contracts.”

Reacting to the minority's call for the interdiction of the MD, the unionised workers described the call as misguided.

“We wish to, therefore, entreat the general public to disregard the call by the minority in parliament for the interdiction of the MD of BOST but we rather request of the honourable members to support the MD’s quest to ensure that all those who have aided in looting the company are duly punished,” they said.

The Minority in Parliament is demanding the “immediate interdiction” of the MD over a “bizarre” and “dubious” contract awarded to Movenpiina Company Limited to distribute the five million litres of contaminated oil onto the market.

At a press conference, the Minority called for a full-scale investigation by the regulatory authorities into the “corrupt” deal.

The Minority also demanded the “immediate withdrawal of the contaminated product from the market to protect consumers and assurances that this will not recur.”

The Minority also said the financial loss from the deal, which they estimated at GHS14.25million, must be retrieved by “surcharging the offending officials at BOST in line with a recent Supreme Court decision”.

Meanwhile, BOST has denied that there is contaminated fuel on the market.