The GOIL Filling Station at the Kwame Nkrumah Circle in Accra that blew up on June 3, 2015, killing scores of people as a result, scored an A after a recent inspection conducted on it by the National Petroleum Authority (NPA).
“In February 2015, the NPA did a complete audit of the station. The station scored 93 per cent, thereby making it a grade A Station,” the Managing Director of GOIL, Mr Patrick Akorli, has stated.
Addressing journalists at a press conference organised by the Association of Oil Marketing Companies (AOMCs) at the weekend, Mr Akorli pulled out documents to prove his claim.
The press conference was addressed by the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the AOMCs, Mr Kwaku Agyemang-Duah, to state the association’s position on recent developments on the petroleum downstream industry.
Mr Akorli said the fuel station, which was the third highest selling station on GOIL’s list, was established in 1963.
“It underwent a major renovation in 2015,” he disclosed. Pressure tests, which are conducted every five years, were performed on that filling station in 2013.
Friendly station
A visibly troubled Mr Akorli declined to comment on what had caused the fire, as a sign of respect to investigators and grieving families, but was not happy with pronouncements made by an official of the Ghana National Fire Service (GNFS), who cited the station as the source of the fire that swept through the station and adjoining buildings during a downpour.
“We cannot conclude the fire started from the station. We sympathise with the bereaved families. We lost staff and we are grieving. “We are not happy; we are not criminals. People should not rub salt into injury,” he stressed.
Inspection The NPA inspects fuel filling stations twice a year and at random when the need arises. The documents Mr Akorli showed to journalists indicated that checks were made on underground storage tanks, pumps and dispensers.
Permits from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the NPA licence, the availability of a Ghana Standards Authority (GSA) certificate for dispensing pumps, verification stickers on dispensing pumps, fire certificates and the availability of building permits and insurance certificates were all inspected and cleared by the NPA.
The technical, infrastructure, waste management storage and disposal, pollution prevention and controls and occupational health and safety requirements of the filling station were all checked and passed by the NPA.
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