The Managing Director of the Bulk Energy Storage and Transportation Company Limited, Dr. Edwin Alfred Provencal, has revealed that BOST had made immense investments in infrastructure but was generating almost no profit for the nation.
He explained in a presentation earlier today at the Ministry of Information, that the company had invested $57 million specifically in pipelines, yet these assets were not utilized effectively to yield returns for Ghana.
Dr. Provencal, who was appointed Managing Director in 2019, emphasized that BOST’s infrastructure, essential for generating income, was either absent or neglected. “Our pipelines as of 2017, were completely decommissioned, so there was no way we would have generated money from our pipelines; they were out of service for 2-5 years,” he stated.
He cited a notable example during his presentation: a 12-inch pipeline infrastructure project, which was intended to boost profitability but had been abandoned in the United States since 2008, remaining under no proper supervision for nearly 12 years. “Every company has what they use to generate income, and at BOST, ours is infrastructure. Ghana, as at 2008, desired to expand our pipeline capacity from 6 inches to 12 inches; these pipes worth $57 million were ordered from the United States of America and were left to rot under sun, snow, rain until 2020 when they were shipped to Ghana and refurbished to prepare it for purpose,” he explained.
Dr. Provencal also pointed out that BOST’s marine assets, which were supposed to generate income by transporting oil for suppliers, had been decommissioned, making them ineffective in producing profit for Ghana.