BOST's troubles can kill investor confidence – IES

It is worrying to always hear bad news about the Bulk Oil Storage and Transportation Company Limited (BOST), Paa Kwasi Amoah Sakyi, Executive Secretary of the Institute of Energy Security (IES) has said.

According to him, the latest bad press about BOST could scare investors away, adding that BOST’s troubles create uncertainty in the minds of the government as far as budgetary allocations are concerned.

Mr Amoah-Sakyi has also appealed to the media to highlight the good side of BOST, since there are knowledgeable experts within that office.

This, he said, will inspire investor confidence in the company.

The IES Executive Secretary’s concerns follow calls by Mr Duncan Amoah, CEO of the Chamber of Petroleum Consumers Ghana (COPEC-Ghana), for the arrest of the immediate-past former CEO of BOST, Alfred Obeng Boateng for selling over million litres of contaminated fuel to oil marketing firms in Ghana.

Mr Amoah told Chief Jerry Forson on Ghana Yensom on Accra 100.5FM Monday, 17 September that “EOCO and the National Security must intervene and arrest Mr Obeng Boateng for questioning. He must be made to account for the over one million litres of the contaminated fuel that cannot be accounted for. The current CEO of BOST should not be blamed, let us blame Alfred Obeng for the issue.”

“Alfred Obeng must tell us the fuel stations he sold that fuel to, and the amount he got form the sale. If he is unable to account for it, then that alone is enough for the state security to go after him.”

Speaking also on the same programme, Mr Anamoah-Sakyi, said: “The bad press regarding BOST has the ability to deter investors from the company”, adding that even the government can’t have the confidence to invest in BOST.

“We can’t question BOST too much because there are knowledgeable persons within the company who know their mettle, they have been doing some good works, and, so, we should also focus on the good works as we criticise them.”

He added: “Wherever BOST also sold the contaminated fuel to, they will need to tell us.”