PPMC laments low LPG consumption rate

As NIPCO donates cylinders
Pipelines and Products Marketing Company [PPMC], says it re­mains worrisome that LPG consumption in the country has remained very low, de­spite the advantages inher­ent in it.
To reverse the trend, the company said that govern­ment will continue to support and roll out policies that would help deepen the consumption of LPG, popularly known as cooking gas in the country.
The impending move to raise utilisation of LPG was stated by the Managing Di­rector of PPMC, Mr. Haruna Momoh, when an NGO he chairs; GTI in partnership with NIPCO donated cylinders and other accessories in Auchi, Edo State.
The PPMC boss informed that government will continue to support initiative aimed at promoting the safe and healthy use of LPG which the nation is richly endowed with in the overall interest of the citizenry.
Momoh who was represent­ed by the Manager in charge of LPG at PPMC, Mrs. Betty Ugona, said the rural dwellers and the semi-urban communi­ties are top priority to govern­ment in view of the large cook­ing they engage in with a view to encouraging them to use gas for their cooking.
The PPMC boss who is also the chairman of the board of trustees of GTI commended Nipco for supporting the initiative, stressing that the cylinders donated will help boost efforts of the NGO and ultimately deepen gas usage among benefits.
He listed the key objectives of GTI to include: improving health by substituting other fu­els, particularly firewood and kerosene for LPG, promote rapid growth for the domestic gas market, promote avail­ability and competitiveness among others.
According to him, LPG re­mains the most efficient cook­ing fuel even as government is doing its best to promote its consumption but noted that its usage is still low due to the missing gap of adequate publicity and awareness on its benefits over other cooking fuels .
Momoh argued that the is­  sue of accessories which is one of the drawbacks in the use of the product was being addressed through support by stakeholders who have pledged free distribution of the items to the people.
While receiving the stake­holders who came for the ep­och making event, the Otaru of Auchi, HRM Momoh, thanked the supporters and initiators of the project which has seen his subjects receive the accessories, saying that the venture was another plus to his reign.
He enjoined GTI and its supporting companies to make the campaign an enduring one in view of the attendant ben­efits of gas over other cooking fuels, adding that the tradition­al institution will always pro­vide an enabling environment to facilitate the scheme.
In his address, the Manag­ing Director, Nipco, Mr. Ven­kataraman Venkatapathy said the company supported the initiative with the donation of varying sizes of cylinders to remove the burden of procur­ing them.