The Ghana Cylinder Manufacturing Company (GCMC) is working towards doubling current production figures when the revitalisation efforts by the government are complete.
It is seeking to change its obsolete equipment to be more efficient and viable as a business
The Managing Director of the GCMC, Abdul-Rahman Mankir, made this known when he briefed the members of the Committee on Energy of Parliament during a visit to the company’s factory at Spintex in Accra yesterday.
The members of the committee, led by its Chairman, Emmanuel Bedzrah, paid a working visit to the company’s factory at Spintex in Accra, to familiarise themselves with the company’s operations and the challenges facing it.
Obsolete equipment
Mr Mankir said since the establishment of the GCMC factory in 1998, it had not seen any major changes in terms of equipment at the factory which have become obsolete and the company that installed the equipment was also out of business.
“And so sometimes when there are breakdowns, getting critical spare parts is even a challenge and you have to rely on local fabricators to be able to manufacture or fabricate something that will look exactly what you want,” he said.
He said once the retooling was complete, the company could scale up the refurbishment of 1,500 semi-finished cylinders to 3,000 cylinders per day when it reaches the optimum production level.
That, he said, would help to remove many “defective and dangerous” gas cylinders sitting in people’s homes.
“Once we are able to secure enough funds, we will solve the obsolete machinery we have, retool and modernise our factory into a state-of-the-art factory,” he said.
The GCMC MD said following an assessment by the Ministry of Energy and Green Transition, an approval was given for the amount required for the upgrade and so far, it has received about $6 million out of the $8 million needed to revamp operations.
“We need a total of $8 million to support our revitalisation process, but we have so far secured $6 million.
“We are grateful that the Energy Minister has been able to secure $6 million for GCMC for purposes of revitalisation so that we can be able to upgrade our machinery from the current capacity of producing 1,500 semi-finished cylinders to producing 3,000 cylinders per day and also to scale up our refurbishment,” he stated.
Cylinder recirculation
Mr Mankir pointed out that with its cylinder recirculation model (CRM) programme, the GCMC was helping to get rid of many dangerous cylinders out of the system.
He said cylinders that were collected through its exchange points were revalidated and taken through testing processes and those that were not fit to go back were scrapped.
“It is interesting to note that out of the cylinders that we receive here, about 30 per cent of them are not fit to go back to the system and we scrap them.”
“And as part of sustainability, they are taken to the steel mill and they are recycled into other products like iron rods,” he said.
Green transition
Describing the GCMC as a strategic company playing a vital role in driving the green transition, Mr Mankir said Ghana Cylinder was aiming at achieving 50 per cent LPG penetration by 2030.
He explained that achieving LPG access would help to discourage the traditional way of using biofuels for cooking, which was very disastrous to the health of the people.
“So, revitalising the factory is a major boost in ensuring the continuity and the safety of the cylinders in circulation.”
“As a strategic company, it will help us in getting revenue because we will be able to produce more cylinders for the nation and, if possible, export them,” he said.
Source:
www.graphic.com.gh