As Ghanaians continue to grapple with Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) shortages, the Presidency has called for a national debate on the way forward to manage the commodity. According to the Presidency, Ghanaians have to decide whether the government should continue to subsidise LPG or commercialise its sales by removing the subsidy. Nii Lante Vanderpuje, a Presidential aide, discussing the stance of the Presidency with journalists at the Castle on Sunday said, the debate would indicate whether the subsidised LPG should be for only domestic or commercial, or both. Giving the basis for the call for the debate, he said, LPG was introduced into the country for domestic use as a way of discouraging the use of charcoal and fire wood. However, he said, more commercial vehicles were now depending on gas because petrol cars had been converted to use gas, thereby increasing the demand for gas. During discussions among the top officials in government, he said, two options had emerged. The first, he said, was for the government to remove the subsidy on LPG so that it would be sold to Ghanaians at the prevailing market price irrespective of whether it was intended for domestic or commercial use. The second option, he said, was to designate separate distribution point for domestic and commercial gas so that the domestic users would still enjoy the subsidy, while the commercial users, would purchase it at the commercial points at the current market prices. “All of us should decide on which of the options to adopt,” he said. He said although the government continues to expand the infrastructure for increased LPG supply, the increasing spate of conversion of petrol cars to use gas, “has led to an abnormal demand for gas in Ghana.”