NPA inaugurates permanent office building in Accra
A permanent office complex to accommodate the National Petroleum Authority (NPA) has been inaugurated in Accra.
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The five-storey structure located at Dzorwulu on the George Bush Highway (next to the office of the Petroleum Commission) will house all NPA’s operational units.
The facility will facilitate the effective discharge of the NPA’s mandate of regulating, overseeing and monitoring the downstream petroleum sector.
The Deputy Minister of Petroleum, Mr Benjamin Dagadu, said the office would not only improve efficiency in the operations of the NPA, but also reduce the operational cost of the authority.
Mr Dagadu commended the board and management of the NPA for the initiative and charged workers to work hard to justify the investment made.
The NPA in 2014 rented its East Legon office at an alleged monthly rate of US$63,000, a situation which raised public outcry.
Convenience
The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the NPA, Mr Moses Asaga, said since its establishment, the authority has not had a permanent office.
He said the situation led to the NPA expending huge sums of money in rent charges. Some of its operation units such as the Inspection, Monitoring and Licensing (IML) and the Petroleum Product Marking Scheme (PPMS) were also located at different areas in Accra.
The inauguration of the new structure, Mr Asaga said would, therefore, enable all operation units of the NPA to be harmonised at a central location.
“This new edifice will help the authority conduct its business in a conducive environment and further enhance service delivery in line with our core mandate and strategic objectives without the distraction of moving offices which had been a setback for the authority since its establishment in 2005,” he stated.
Mr Benjamin Dagadu (in smock), the Deputy Petroleum Minister, being assisted by Mr Ralph Roland (2nd left), Board Chairman, and Mr Moses Asaga (right), CEO of NPA, to inaugurate the new complex (right). Pictures: DELLA RUSSEL OCLOO
Monitoring
Mr Asaga stressed that an Enterprise Management Technology (EMT), which comes with a wide area network, had been deployed at the new facility to help monitor operations at various petroleum storage facilities across the country.
The deployment of the EMT, he said was also informed by the expansion in retail stations across the country to about 3,000, a situation that would require adequate monitoring by the Inspection, Monitoring and Licensing department.
“The EMT also comes with features which will allow the authority to also ascertain the export volumes across the borders,” Mr Asaga added.
According to him, “the system has also been linked with that of the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA).”
Sulphur content
Mr Asaga also gave an indication that stakeholder consultations on the reduction of low sulphur content in diesel from the present 33,00 to 50 parts per million (PPM) would commence soon.
He stressed that the NPA was committed to the April deadline for the attainment of the 50 ppm after all the necessary consultations and subsequent publication (gazette) of the new standards.