Mr. Keiteh made these remarks at a joint press conference held at the Petroleum House on Wednesday, 17 November 2021.
Mr. Keiteh said International traders were concerned about the disappearance of their stock and a number of them flew from Europe to meet the taskforce. “This has big economic implications for the country as failure to settle them will have economic impact.”
He noted that Gampetroleum and the taskforce assured them that would be paid and the conditions to fulfil this were being discussed, adding that following the initial assessment, it was discovered more than half of the fuel stock that should have been at the depot could not be accounted for and this prompted an official investigation into the matter, which is ongoing.
The focus of the ongoing investigations by the security forces is to determine to whom and under what conditions the missing stocks were allocated.
However, since this whole saga began, the taskforce has discovered some questionable management practices which have given rise to the need for a further review of the standard operating procedures.
He said Gampetroleum is a private limited liability company but the government will ensure that the needed guarantees for the traders are met by Gampetroleum so that confidence can be restored for oil supplies by these traders to resume.
He explained that the Gampetroleum board has taken the needed steps including reporting the matter to the police for the needed actions to be taken to account for the unaccounted stocks.
Mr. Keiteh revealed that both the general manager and Operations manager of Gampetroleum are helping police in their investigation.
The government of The Gambia keenly awaits the outcome of the investigation and assures the general public the needed actions will be taken according to law, while assuring that all measures will be taken to ensure smooth and uninterrupted supply of Petroleum products.
