Audio Attachment: Listen to Alhassan Tampuli in an interview with Kwami Sefa Kayi on Peace FM's 'kokrokoo' |
The National Petroleum Authority (NPA) has attributed the Atomic Junction gas explosion to negligence on the part of the Gas station.
Dozens of security personnel from the Police and Military Services are reported deployed to the scene of the fatal gas explosion that occurred at the Atomic Junction off the Madina-Haatso road.
An inferno last Saturday claimed lives and injured several others after a gas leak ignited.
The fire was first noticed by attendants at a gas station when LPG that was being discharged at the vicinity started to leak.
The station attendants began to evacuate the area.
Speaking in an interview with host Kwami Sefa Kayi, the Chief Executive Officer of the NPA, Alhassan Tampuli has dismissed the reports on the Khebab seller saying "mostly, you’ll see a truck at the station to discharge LPG and that is normally the cause of the problem".
According to him, the Authority had notified the gas station in July this year to undertake some precautionary measures which they station authorities failed to comply with all directives given them.
He said; "we wrote a letter to the company on the 10th of July, 2017, after our routine monitoring and inspection visit to a number of stations and we do that all the time . . . and the letter we wrote to them was titled ‘Compliance with monitoring of LPG refilling plant in the Greater Accra Region 2017’ and it’s addressed to the Managing Director . . ."
“A number of things came out and we wrote to them and requested of them to put them in place by the 4th of September 2017. We told them there was too much activity on the forecourt especially around the cylinder; traders, vulcanizers and so forth. The place has become like a taxi rank or trotro station. They can discharge passengers and convey passengers. So, one of the things that we indicated to them was that there was too much activity on the forecourt. Secondly, we also said that more safety signs should be provided at the vicinity. And thirdly, customers must be prevented from accessing the filling area, a separate waiting area must be provided . . . We did a follow-up visit. When we did a follow-up visit, to some extent, they had put in place some of the measures but they still had some activities of uninvited people at the forecourt”, Mr. Tampuli told Kwami Sefa Kayi.
Mr. Tampuli also noted that the cause of the explosion is normally due to the trucks that discharge the petroleum product at the gas stations.
On Saturday's incident, he said the explosion occurred when a truck was on-site discharging gas which triggered the leak resulting in the fire outbreak.
"Mostly, you’ll see a truck at the station to discharge LPG and that is normally the cause of the problem . . . The one at Trade site resulted when the truck was on-site. The one at Takoradi – Ghumco disaster – happened when the truck was on-site. Last Saturday’s own happened when the truck was on-site. In Kumasi where it happened, the truck was on-site . . . so we have an understanding that either it’s the way and manner that the discharge is done or it is a major catastrophic attempt to pull something which should not be done in just to control the environment . . . Mostly, it’s as a result of discharge error; either the driver and the mate do not have the requisite training (number 1) or the discharge facility, either the pump, is faulty or the breakaway coupling is weak and then that results in some amount of leakages . . . then the driver and the mate will bolt away without taking the precautionary measures to put in place before even asking for reinforcement.
"The other problem that we found out about the last explosion is that normally, discharge of product is not done in the night. Do you understand? You don’t discharge in the night. So, clearly, that was in violation of the procedures that we had put in place for the discharge of petroleum product", he stressed.
Source: Ameyaw Adu Gyamfi/Peacefmonline.com/Ghana
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kwashiya wiem) s)) . is someone like him still at post ????? africa hmmmmm the mentality is so so off, education is the key but most of these fuuls holding top positions only did chew n pour while in school and training courses. mr minist ak3aka j3 onukpa shi oluuwaaa , kyiina muuu jibo. we have corrupt people all around and when u stand for the truth in an institution the greedy cartel within the same institution gang up set u up and make sure you're sacked or hire killers to finish u up, all coz of greed for money . if am to lose my kid for someones negligence trust me i will make time and kill you too, eve if its to burn u, ur house or track u n shoot u. when am done leave a note to serve as warning to the corrupt fuuls we have in the system . we need to kill them to get them working . coz the talk talk dey are use to it coz days later everyone forgets .
are you still at post??????????????????i fear for Nana Addo, he may fail eventually
Sub-.standard minister. i.ncompetent f..oo..l. s,hut up already
You notified them and what happened next? African leaders have a serious serious problem. concert man
MR. TAMPULI, MR. TAMPULI, MR. TAMPULI EEEIII YOU HAVE THE GUTS TO OPEN YOUR MOUTH TO MAKE THIS STATEMENT? WFHAAAAT. INFACT YOU SHOULD SACK YOURSELF. THATS ALL
This man must be sacked, immediately. He is not competent to hold the position he has been placed in. These excuses must stop. Victims of the explosion and fire must sue NPA. Enough is enough. These acts of incompetence which cause preventable deaths of innocent people must be treated with the seriousness that they deserve. The Government must be seen to protect the citizens otherwise it is complicit in these needless deaths. The talking is enough. Let's do the right things!
You need to be fired. You notified them and what did you do again? Did you go back to check whether it has been corrected? Some of you take pay for nothing. The civil servants are disappointing this nation they take pay for nothing. Those appointed you should fire you failing to act. What you should have done is to shut the station down until corrective measure is put in place. A letter to the gas company you gave to third party do deliver, what shows that they received your letter It is not university degree we use to work it is common sense Some of you need to go to safety training at Valco to eneble you see hazard. The families of the victims has to sue NPA, FIRE SERVICE EPA AND MUNICIPAL ASSEMBLY for their negligent role they play did you go back to check? It is a shame to say that.
kwabena...they've corrected it...i believe it was oversight.u pple to peacefmonline cos u know they're best, otherwise why spend ur energy there...sometimes, just signal dem without being annoying urselves. wen i read the report, my instinct told me it may hve been an oversight cos the write-up is very logical except the first paragraph. so guys...save ur breath wae. But to u, NPA; u need to up ur game to be proactive n not reactive...u wait for an explosion and just come out to talk. it's time to sanction anyone who doesn't comply with the right procedures and laws to prevent any future occurrences
Masa kwabena, keep off...haven't u made mistake in writing b4...komot 4 der...u pple talk as if u never make any mistakes wen u write...leave the journalist alone. at least he's done well informing u. now u cn go bk n check for the correction. they've done the correction.
I became confused when I read the lack of negligence asem oooo. I cant imagined that the station wasn't shut down. when are we going to be responsible in this country?