Business News of Wednesday, 15 January 2020Source: classfmonline.comBawumia launches NPA's digital tracking system for bulk vehiclesplay videoGhana’s Vice-President, Dr Mahamudu BawumiaGhana’s Vice-President, Dr Mahamudu Bawumia, has launched a digital Command and Control Centre for Bulk Road Vehicle (BRV) and an Electronic Cargo Tracking System (ECTS) to be run by the National Petroleum Authority in collaboration with other key stakeholders in the petroleum downstream sector. Speaking at the launch ceremony in Accra on Tuesday, 14 January 2020, Dr Bawumia said the operationalisation of the Centre, which would track the movement of all petroleum products in real time, would have several benefits, key among which is reduced revenue losses and greater efficiency in the control and distribution of petroleum products. He expressed worry about the network of illegal activities going on in the petroleum downstream industry mostly in the form of bunkering, smuggling of petroleum products and the dumping of products meant for export on the local market. “It is estimated that these illegal activities cost the country over US$200 million per annum in the form of lost direct petroleum tax revenue, subsidies that do not get to the targeted constituencies, and abuse in transport claims for transportation of petroleum products among others. Deputy Minister of Energy, Dr Mohammed Amin Adam, gave the assurance of the government’s determination to address the capacity challenges facing the Bulk Oil Storage and Transportation Company and the Volta Lake Transport Company in the distribution of petroleum products, indicating that the 98% of all petroleum products transported by road was on the high side.

Source: GhanaWeb January 15, 2020 09:00 UTC