High-risk fuel stations across the country are to be shut-down in a month’s time, following a directive from President Akufo-Addo afterThursday’s crucial cabinet meeting.
The President said this directive will be implemented by a task-force without “regard to any political or special interests.”
A statement issued by the presidency and signed by the Information Minister, Mustapha Hamid, after the Cabinet meeting, said the decision, which is one of the nine directives issued out by the President, seeks to in the interim, “give comfort to and ensure the safety of our citizens.”
It said “Deployment of a task force, within 30 days, to assess the risk that our current LPG infrastructure poses in terms of public health and safety. High risk stations will be immediately closed down, in accordance with relevant law and without regard to any political or special interests. Low risk stations will be designated for the supply of gas for vehicles with improved safety standards.”
These directives followed the public outcry in the wake of the massive explosion at an LPG filling station at Atomic Junction.
That explosion has so far claimed at least seven lives and injured over 100 persons. The loss of lives even touched closer to the Presidency, as a presidential correspondent for Net 2 TV lost his life in the commotion sparked by the explosion.
The outrage of the explosion was the culmination of widespread concern over the lax safety standards of some LPG and petrol fill stations, which has seen about eight major explosions since 2014, not counting the June 3 fire and flood disaster at a petrol station near the Kwame Nkrumah Circle.
Implement cylinder circulation program – Nana Addo orders
The President also ordered the implementation of the Cylinder Re–circulation Model of Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG).
The module, proposed by the National Petroleum Authority (NPA), will ensure that LPG filling points are sited out of densely populated area and commercial centres.
This is unlikely to go down well with the LPG Marketers Association and the Association of Gas Tanker Drivers, who have in the past kicked against this proposal, citing job losses and other negative impact on their businesses.
The President expects this and some other directives issued after Thursday’s cabinet meeting, to be implemented within a year.
Citifm