The Management of the Bulk Oil Storage and Transportation Company Limited, BOST says it has discovered product adulteration at its Kumasi Depot over the last couple of days and is taking all required steps to rectify the anomaly.
According to Management, the truck and its content are being held at a safe place whilst investigations continue.
In a communique sighted by Thinknewsonline.com, it said "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 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, however, assure the public that, with the current robust Standard Operating Procedures, SOPs, no adulterated product will find its way into our tanks much less get to the market.
It also noted that the reported incident has not affected its operations in any way adding that its fuel safety and security as a country is assured.
Throwing more light on its transportation of products, the statement said "BOST depends on three modes of transport for transferring products from its primary depot at Kpone in Tema across its other depots: Kumasi, Buipe, Akosombo and Bolgatanga"
"These modes are: Rad through bulk road vehicles popularly called tankers. River barges on the Volta Lake in partnership with Volta Late Transport Corporation and Pipelines between Tema and Akosombo, Buipe and Bolgatanga and from Tema Oil Refinery to the Accra Plains Depot.
It hinted that the reported incident concerns the Bulk Road Vehicular mode of transport.
On product loading and off-loading standard procedures, it said "As a standard practice, products are tested to confirm their chemical composition before loading into trucks. Upon arrival at their destination, same product testing is carried to ensure what was loaded on to the truck is what has been transported before discharge is permitted"
The Oil Storage company stated that during the pre-discharge testing of product aboard a BRV, it was discovered through the basic test that the chemical composition of the product at the destination differed from what was loaded on the truck.
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.
Below is a copy of the release:
Story by: Joshua Kwabena Smith