What the management of State-own Bulk Oil Storage and Transportation Company Limited (BOST) thought was going to be an easy run by heaping numbers and claims of profit on Ghanaians through cleverly selected Ghanaian journalists at a weekend retreat in a hotel at Akosombo, without any questions, have landed in a ditch.
Many experts, have stepped up debunking the profit claims.
The latest to challenge the BOST management on the matter of the profit, is former Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC), Alex Mould, who says BOST is misleading the public.
According to him, BOST is making about 9 pesewas from every litre of fuel sold in the country for free amounting to Ghs 400 Million, hence declaring a profit of some Ghs 180 Million for no work done.
“They get a GHS 0.09 subsidy from the taxpayer for every litre of petrol (gasoline and diesel) sold in the country – this subsidy amounts to about GHS 400m. Profit of GHS 180m my foot. You do the math!” He wrote, adding you do the math!
The statement which was made Facebook by Mr Mould, attracted many comments, including one from the Managing Director of BOST, Edwin A. Provencal who wrote; “My Senior, Correction: 0.07 pesewas currently” in an attempt to also correct Mr Mould.
Others sought to find out whether the profit declaration was a “scam” that the BOST management was up to.
Some also described the numbers as a loss.
Earlier, BOST’s claims of profit were questioned by John Jinapor, ranking member on the Mines and Energy Committee of Parliament, who provided facts and data to support his argument against BOST,.
BOST had falsely claimed that after 11 years of recording losses, it had made “remarkable turnaround recording GH¢168.8 million profit after tax last year”.
However, the Minority ranking member on the Mines and Energy Committee of Parliament John Jinapor exposed the claim as a lie.
“Last year we were told BOST made profit for the 2020 financial year only to be hit with the reality that the company actually made a loss of GH¢291.02 million”, he wrote in reply to the Graphic claims.
This year we are told the company made profit for the 2021 financial year, but they conveniently refuse to tell us that the BOST Margin has witnessed an increment of 100% from GHp6 to GHp12 per litre for the year under review.
This new increase for BOST comes on the back of an initial 100% increase, from GHp3 to GHp6 per litre in 2020.
The BOST Margin which is free money (Tax) to the company has therefore witnessed a cumulative increment of 200% within two years.
