The Daily Graphic reported yesterday that the Ashanti Regional Security Council had directed three gas filling stations in Kumasi, operating without licenses, to stop work with immediate effect. The managers of the three gas stations have also been asked to submit documents, which gave them the authority to operate at their sites.
The directive was given by the Ashanti Regional Minister, Mr. E. A. Owusu-Ansah, who is also the chairman of the council. He also directed all managers of gas stations in the Kumasi Metropolis to submit their licenses to the Council by close of work on Monday, this week. This, according to the Graphic story, was to enable the National Petroleum Authority and the Environmtal Protection Agency (EPA) to inspect those stations and make recommendations for final directives.
First of all, The Chronicle wishes to thank the Owusu-Ansah-led council for making the attempt to avoid the future recurrence of what happened in Kumasi last weekend. Reports so far indicate that a lot of people sustained serious injuries with some of them in critical condition at the various hospitals in the Kumasi Metropolis. In situations like this, the best thing one should do is to put preventive measures in place, which the Ashanti REGSEC is doing.
Whilst commending the REGSEC for the prompt action it has taken, we are also appalled at the sit by attitude that Ghanaians always adopt in resolving issues. It has become hackneyed in this country for our authorities to always sit down for an incident to occur before they try to put measures in place to check the practice after lives have been lost. Meanwhile, we have various institutions in place to do this and they are paid at the end of the month for that.
We all witnessed what happened in Accra recently when flood swept away lives and personal belongings due to the negligence of the institution that has been tasked to ensure that the right things are done. We can also cite several instances of similar cases going on in this country. But in most of the cases, leaders of these institutions are left off the hook when people have lost their loved ones. Regarding the case in question, did the EPA conduct thorough analysis of the setting of the gas station before granting the permit?
We are not accusing the EPA of corruption but it is an open secret that most of these stations are set up under heavy influence of money and political pressure. In circumstances like this, the oversight institution does not care about the consequences of granting permit to the owner of the station. The Chronicle is raising these issues because, if the right thing had been done, the REGSEC would not have been calling for the licenses of these gas stations in the metropolis.
Information we have obtained indicates that when this particular gas station was going to be set up, the residents strongly opposed it because of the dangers it would pose to their lives but their pleas were ignored. Unfortunately, the director of EPA in Kumasi was on radio, defending that they did nothing wrong in granting a license to the station owner. The Chronicle would like to call on the government to prosecute those whose negligence would lead to the deaths of others as it happened in Accra after the flood.
It is only when this is done that those who have been put in positions of authority would begin to sit up by doing the right thing. We must always try to avoid accidents instead of waiting for them to happen before we try to fight against them.
We wish all those who got injured in the Kumasi incident a speedy recovery.
