Spokesperson for the Rawlingses, Kofi Adams has implored government to properly structure and run its interventions in the fuel sector in order to benefit the underprivileged in the society.
Kofi Adams emphasized during a panel discussion programme on Peace FM on Friday that the effective measure the petroleum authorities can adopt in pricing petroleum products is to first �rationalize the social interventions. So, those who are expected to benefit from it obtain their profits before we think about the total removal of subsidies on the petroleum products.�
Addressing the call for fuel subsidy removal and the brouhaha associated with the issue, he explained that the removal of the subsidies on fuel will not inure to the benefit of the vulnerable in society in the nation and so, asserted that there should be an improvement in the social interventions to curb their burdens.
He however disagreed with critics who believe government does not subsidize fuel since it uses the tax payer�s money to subvent the possibility of petroleum price increases.
According to him, government subsidizes the fuel products though the subsidy is generated from the taxes imposed on the products because �in Ghana, we don�t get money elsewhere. All the funds we have here are from Ghana. Even the grants we obtain, the money we use to amortize is from Ghana��
He however stressed that �whatever it is that we do, we should think about Ghana.�
The National Petroleum Authority days ago stressed the need for some adjustments in fuel prices in order to augment the supply of petrol in the country.
According to Yaro Kasambata, Public Relations Officer of the NPA, they have given government up to December 2013 to remove the current subsidies on LPG, Petrol and diesel.
Though the authority is not thinking of scraping the subsidies in its entirety, it has implored government to pay GHC 2.4 billion as fuel subsidies, adding if the money is paid petroleum prices will not change.
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