The National Petroleum Authority has touted its new policy on gas cylinders as a game changer that will not only curb explosions, but also create jobs.

Chief Executive of the Authority Hassan Tampuli said 6,000 jobs are expected to be created through the setting up of bottling companies and gas cylinder retail outlets across the country.

Following the October 2017 gas explosion at Atomic Junction in Accra which left seven dead and dozens injured, LPG bottling plants will no longer be sited in commercial and populated centers.

Photo: On the evening of 7th October 2017, the nation was shaken by a horrible gas explosion at Atomic Junction in Accra

Consumers will no longer be expected to carry gas cylinders for re-filling at fuel stations.

Under the new policy, LPG Bulk Distribution Company (BDC) buys gas for bulk storage. LPG Bottling companies buy the gas from the BDCs and sell to LGP Marketers Association who bring in their cylinders for filling.

The LGP Marketers Association will now drop them with LPG Operators who will now become retail outlets. Consumers with empty gas cylinders will go and exchange them for filled ones.

The new policy, he said, allays  fears expressed by LPG Marketers Association and LPG operators who sold gas directly to consumers that government was kicking them out of business.

They rolled out an implementation committee last December along with the LPG Marketers Association. 

But Hassan Tampuli says their concerns have been accommodated leading to "radical" changes in the implementation strategy.

Photo: Hassan Tampuli is CEO of NPA

"There is not a chance that people are going to lose jobs," the Chief Executive said on the Joy FM Super Morning Show Tuesday.

The two groups are no longer disgruntled and are seen as key driver of the re-distribution policy, he said although some operators have declared strike.

The NPA CEO said already there are 18 applications for bottling permits with government-owned GOIL seeking to set up three bottling plants.

He said at least 2,000 retail outlets are expected to be sited across the country in addition to existing outlets. This, he said, will make gas cylinders accessible than ever before, he said.