The Independent Uganda: You get the Truth we Pay the Price
Instead, they would only be allowed to sell cylinders refilled at bottling plants.
The NPA said the energy ministry would roll out the policy “soon” but it was not immediately clear if the new measures were in place.
Sarpong Agyeman-Badu said civil servants who handle fuel station applications “should also be made to answer questions (about) how these people are able to get the permits”.
– Online petition –
The busy Atomic Junction area of Legon is home to three fuel stations, transport services and restaurants. It is also near a high school and the University of Ghana campus.
Dominic Osei, a local businessman, said there were too many natural gas filling stations near petrol stations.
“All of them too are flammable,” he said. “So, as soon as there is a small or a lighter mistake, then… there will be a disaster in the country.”
Outraged Ghanaians also took to social media to express concerns about safety.
A petition to President Akufo-Addo has been set up demanding better regulation and inspection of existing and proposed facilities, including siting them at least 50 metres (165 feet) from homes and 100 metres from schools and hospitals.
Abena Awuku, a Ghanaian living in the Netherlands, proposed the measures on the change.org site, saying fuel stations were “all disasters waiting to happen and the time to act is now”.
“There was a similar incident two years ago and we were fed lies and empty promises about regulations going to be put in place but then we had to witness this,” she told AFP later.
“These deaths could have easily been prevented, so let’s prevent them from ever occurring again in the future.”
