Managing Director of the Bulk Oil Storage and Transportation (BOST), Edwin Provencal, has noted that most of the infrastructure belonging to the company are obsolete.
He said some of them have broken down because they are old; a situation he said is negatively impacting the work of the company.
To that end, he has requested for the approval of the 3% BOST margin to enable the company refurbish or provide new infrastructure.
Mr. Provencal made these remarks when he met some Civil Society Organizations in the energy sector and a cross-section of the media in Tema.
He said: “You can see that a lot of our infrastructure are old. Some of them are as old as 26 years. A lot of them have broken down. We have almost 4 tanks here, which are out of service and we need money to fix them.
“Now the BOST margin was solely meant for infrastructure maintenance. In 2011, the BOST margin was given to us at 3 pesewas. We are in 2020, some 9 years down the line where the dollar value has depreciated by 75%, but we are still getting the same 3 pesewas. That is why the infrastructure is falling apart,” he said.
“Now we have to do something about it. We cannot, as Ghanaians leave this strategic asset to rot away. We are trying our best but we need help, hence the cry for help and for Ghanaians to support the increment of the BOST margin from 3 pesewas to at least some 12 pesewas if possible, so that we can deliver our mandate to the people of Ghana, ” he added.
He further noted that, “In total, we would need about 150 million dollars to fix our infrastructure, but I mean we are not asking all of that from the government. All we are asking from the government is that it should give us the BOST margin so we can be equipped to maintain the existing infrastructure.”
He, however, says there is a plan to upgrade and automate the whole depot to improve efficiency.
“There are other projects we have to do, like upgrade and automate the whole depot which comes to about 47 million dollars. The other small projects that we have to undertake to enhance the efficiency of the depot also cost about 20 something million dollars. Those ones we can engage appropriate funding sources for some money because the projects can payback,” he said.