Many fuel stations in Assin North lack the requisite certificates - MCE

Many fuel stations in the Assin North Municipality are without the requisite certified certificates of operation, Mr Nicholas Fiifi Baako, Municipal Chief Executive, has said.

In this regard, the Assembly has given two-week ultimatum to all owners of the fuel and gas stations to produce among others the required certificates of operation and public safety compliances.

He said all those who do not adhere to this directive would have their operations halted to safeguard lives and properties.

Mr Baako gave the warning after a routine inspection of gas and fuel stations in the area based on the public outrage of the indiscriminate and haphazardly citing of such highly inflammable facilities.

In all the ten facilities visited, the MCE expressed his dissatisfaction and worry over the shambolic public safety precautionary arrangements and the unyielding attitude of managers to adhere to basic safety measures to prevent any imminent disasters.

Speaking to the Ghana News Agency after the tour, he said only one out of the numerous facilities visited had all the requisite certified documents and certificates.

Additionally, further checks by the MCE and the entourage revealed that the facilities had also failed for many years to pay the right taxes to the Assembly. Towards that end, Mr Baako promised to investigate the source of authorization for the facilities to operate with expired certificates since the year 2014 and that anyone in the Assembly found to have misconducted himself would be made to face the law.

He gave the assurance of a continuous, sustained and rigorous inspection and audit of such sensitive installations in collaboration with the relevant state institutions to ensure that safety precautions were not downplayed.

The bold and courageous move by MCE has been hailed by many of the inhabitants in the area as the best approach to ensure that operators comply with public safety regulations to avert explosions and it's devastating effects.

At Assin Nyankomasi, Mr Ernest Kwaku Benson, who lives close to a fuel station praised on the MCE for putting the facility operators in check.

However, some owners of the facilities told the GNA they were in the process of acquiring their final certificates, renewing them or the paper were being held by their parent company in Accra.