Rural areas in Ghana will soon receive gas cylinders and stoves free of charge, the government announced last week September 6, 2012. The programme is aimed at promoting clean energy.
According to the Ministry of Energy, it has obtained approval from the Public Procurement Agency (PPA) to commission the Ghana Cylinder Manufacturing Company to manufacture the cylinders and stoves.
“The Ministry of Energy has obtained approval from the Public Procurement Agency to commission the Ghana Cylinder Manufacturing Company to manufacture 5kg cylinders and stoves for a rural LPG promotion programme as part of government policy objective of making clean fuel available to the under-privileged in our society,” Energy Minister Dr Joe Oteng-Adjei told a press conference in Accra.
Under this programme, Dr Oteng-Adjei stated that “rural communities will only pay for the LPG” and that the “cylinders would be supplied to them free of charge from a pool of cylinders that would be re-circulated and maintained to ensure that safety standards are met.”
The Ministry has signed on to the Global Alliance for Clean Cookstoves, (GACC), which is a new public-private partnership established by the UN Foundation to support developing countries in the promotion of clean cookstoves.
According to the Energy Minister, Ghana has also developed a National Action Plan for the UN Sustainable Energy for all which was presented at the just ended Rio+20 conference in Brazil.
“It is heart warming to note that Ghana is the only African nation to have presented an action plan for sustainable energy development,” he said.
Rio+20 came to an end on June 22, 2012 and about $513 billion in funding was committed by governments, the private sector, civil society and other groups to achieve a sustainable future across the world.
By Ekow Quandzie
Instead of spending the money on underground transmission of Gas to cities and Rural population rather because of Elections wasting money to buy votes by NDC cheap gas cylinder Show off. What a waste when will these leaders learn years after years still cannot get to their nogginsis.
Good initiative by government. Prez Mahama all the way!