Controversial Managing Director of the Bulk Oil Storage and Transportation Company BOST, Edwin Provencal has announced the imminent lay off of some staff of the state oil company.
Mr. Provencal whose leadership of the state oil company has been mired in controversy just like his two predecessors under the New Patriotic Party was addressing a stakeholder meeting in Accra with BOST Transporters.
According to him, ten (10) staff of BOST from the Kumasi Depot operation area will lose their jobs with the company should investigations reveal they played any role in the alleged fuel adulteration at the Kumasi depot, MyNewsGh.com was told.
Also, National Security is now expected to be more active in policing petroleum products moving from one BOST depot to the other. Sources told MyNewsGh.com that National Security officers will move to strengthen monitoring at the state company.
Various disciplinary measures including suspension, interdiction and pay cuts will be administered against persons found culpable including those who were on duty at Pump Stations and other vantage points or sections on the day of the alleged crime at the Kumasi Depot.
Background
Last month, BOST claimed it had discovered the adulteration of petroleum products at its Kumasi depot in the Ashanti Region.
In a statement, BOST, said: “As standard practice, products are tested to confirm their chemical composition before loading into trucks. Upon arrival at their destination, the same product testing is carried to ensure what was loaded onto the truck is what has been transported before discharge is permitted.”BOST made a call for confirmation testing, which proved that the result of the basic test was correct: the product aboard the truck was adulterated,” the statement explained.
According to BOST: “The driver of the truck is in custody, helping the investigative agencies to get to the bottom of the matter”.
“Further pre-discharge tests disclosed eight (8) more trucks had their contents adulterated”, the statement disclosed.
It added: “The drivers of these vehicles are nowhere to be found as we speak, but their respective trucks are being held pending the conclusion of the investigations”.
“This brings the total number of trucks with adulterated contents to nine (9),” BOST noted.
The adulteration of fuel products at BOST happened a few days after the Tema Oil Refinery (TOR) detective hefty thievery at the company.
Both incidents are still being investigated.
