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BOST MD backtracks, BDCs not implicated

…there is no final audit report
By Abubakari Seidu Ajarfor
Headlines BOST MD backtracks, BDCs not implicated
MAY 3, 2015 LISTEN

The Managing Director of Bulk Oil Storage and Transportation (BOST), Kingsley Kwame Awuah-Darko has asked for a truce between his entity, BOST and Bulk Oil Distribution Companies (BDCs), denying the claims of fraud against BDCs.

The MD stated that BOST has never gone out anywhere to make a claim of fraud against the BDCs. “All that we are saying is that in the stock balance audit process, there are some points that various BDCs have to provide further and better particulars.”

According to the MD, the crux of the matter is that an oil storage plant stores petroleum products from a number of BDCs.

He said this means a BDC could overdraw its stock which could affect the stock of another BDC, “BDCs eat into each other’s stock,” he conjectured.

Mr. Awuah-Darko intimated that the systems should not allow that to happen but the system allowed that to happen. Nonetheless, BOST takes responsibility for the stocks it keeps.

He observed that record-keeping is the major cause of the standoff between BDCs and BOST is because the physical stock and the book stocks do not tally with the figures. He therefore called for reconciliation.

Kwame Awuah-Darko urged that BDCs who suspect their stock to be missing to come over for proper reconciliation.

Speaking in an interview with an Accra based radio network, joy news on Thursday, the Managing Director noted that his outfit was still trying to reconcile its stock with Bulk Distribution Companies.

“There is the need for BDCs to sit down with BOST and figure out what happened,” the MD implored.

The Ernst & Young draft report (not a final report) claims that the liabilities of eight (8) BDCs to BOST stand at 2.13 billion litres worth GHC7 billion.

The Chief Executive of the Chamber of Bulk Oil Distributors (CoBDCs), Senyo Hosi rebutted those claims describing as mischievous.

Senyo Hosi on the contrary claimed that BOST had not been able to account for about 60million litres jof petroleum products worth $50 million dollars belonging to BDCs.

However, a Daily Graphic report alleged that some top officials at BOST connived with some BDCs to rob BOST of petroleum products at the depots, leading to losses that affected the national strategic reserve of petroleum products.

The publication mentioned that the criminal activities were used to create a negative balance of BOST indebtedness to the BDCs but the Chief Executive of BDCs Senyo Hosi denied those allegations.

The Managing Director of Bulk Oil Storage and Transportation BOST, Kingsley Kwame Awuah-DarkoThe Managing Director of Bulk Oil Storage and Transportation (BOST), Kingsley Kwame Awuah-Darko

SENYO HOSISENYO HOSI

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