Communications Manager of the National Petroleum Authority (NPA), Mohammed Abdul-Kudus, has clarified the requirements for individuals and households to take part in the upcoming Cylinder Recirculation Model (CRM) Programme scheduled for September.

It was earlier reported that the Ghana Card is the only document needed for one to purchase gas under the yet-to-be launched programme.

Speaking on the matter, Mr Abdul-Kudus highlighted that relying solely on the Ghana card as the national identification isn't necessary for enrollment.

During an interview on Citi FM's Eyewitness News in Accra, he emphasized that although the Ghana card remains an accepted ID, alternative identification methods will also be utilized during registration.

“It was only said among other things as part of the process of the implementation. Currently what pertains to the system is that the individual or household owned cylinders, you take your cylinder to the fuel station, you go and fill it and take it back. CRM is changing ownership and maintenance of cylinders to the bulk filling company. Individuals or households will not own cylinders anymore. So the bulk filling companies will have the responsibility of procuring the cylinders and putting them in the system for use.”

“How do you ensure successful implementation? That is where there is going to be a registration process for individuals and individuals who will be part of the programme…And there will be a need for a national ID. It does not mean any other ID card cannot be used…That particular narrative of the Ghana card or nothing else is absolutely not true,” he explained.

The primary goal of the Cylinder Recirculation Model (CRM) is to optimize the distribution of Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) while also bolstering safety protocols in cylinder handling and distribution.

In this novel approach, individuals and households will transport their empty cylinders to designated fuel stations for refilling. Subsequently, the refilled cylinders will be returned to bulk filling companies for further utilization.

The implementation of the CRM will be led by the NPA and its collaborators, operating under the Ministry of Energy's guidance.

Meanwhile, the Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) Marketers Association has called on the National Petroleum Authority to suspend the implementation of the Cylinder Re-circulation Model.

According to the Association, an immediate implementation will present several challenges as members of the general public have not been properly briefed over the programme.

Speaking to Citi news, Vice President of the LPG Marketers Association, Gabriel Kumi, said there is already some sort of confusion on how the initiative can proceed effectively.

“NPA has set next month for the implementation, and so we have less than a month and the public confusion indicates that consumers are not ready and so there is a need to educate the public on the model so that we don’t confuse the public in the roll-out of the model.”

“The current system is so entrenched that if you want to introduce a new system, you just don’t throw the old one out and suddenly introduce the new one, we have to do that slowly. Our initial discussion was that we should buy back all cylinders in the system because there are a lot of them out there that are obsolete and need to be changed, and it will be difficult to tell them to simply discard them and get new ones in anticipation of the model’s roll-out," he said.