Chemical Society holds annual Confab

The Ghana Chemical Society (GCS) on Thursday held its 18th Annual Conference and general meeting at the University of Cape Coast (UCC).

The two day conference marks the start of a series of events planned by the West Central Branch of the society to revive the activities of the GCS.

The conference which was on the theme “Solving Ghana’s Energy and Environmental Challenges: The Role of the Chemist” brought together scientists, researchers and participants from diverse backgrounds.

It offered chemists in the country the opportunity to come together to deliberate extensively on the problems facing the industry in particular and the country as a whole.

Speaking at the conference, the head of Safety, Security and Environment at the Ministry of Petroleum, Kwesi Twum Addo stressed the need for scientists to deliberate on how to effect changes in human behaviours that affect the environment with reference to the petrol chemical industry.

He noted that the role of chemists must focus on identifying ways to replace existing refinery processes and products with cleaner, safer and more efficient ones.

He therefore called on Ghanaians to engage stakeholders in the industry to make it more competent to respond to the needs of the nation.

He emphasized the need for the association to come up with the roadmap to improve upon the by-products of Ghana’s petroleum industry especially the quality of the fuels and the lubricants.

Mr Twum Addo called on the GSC to consider researching into extending the shelf life of petroleum products as a way of improving the effectiveness of strategic stocks for the country.