We will enforce new LPG regulatory measures – Akufo-Addo assures

The President of the Republic, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, has reinforced his and the commitment of Government towards the full enforcement of the new regulatory measures for the operations of the Liquefied Petroleum Gas industry, issued after the Cabinet meeting of Thursday, 12th October, 2017.

At a meeting of the Ministerial Co-ordinating Committee, set up by the President on Friday, 13th October, 2017, President Akufo-Addo noted that the Committee is to ensure the strict adherence and implementation of the regulatory measures, and depart from the era non-compliance, which has been the status quo in recent years.

The Ministerial Co-ordinating Committee, chaired by the Minister for Energy, Boakye Agyarko, comprises the Minister for Environment, Science, Technology and Innovation; the Minister for Local Government and Rural Development; the Minister for Employment and Labour Relations; and two deputy Ministers for Energy.

The Ministerial Committee is to be supported a Technical Implementation Committee, chaired by the Chief Executive Officer of the National Petroleum Authority (NPA), Hassan Tampuli. The other members of the Committee are the Chief Fire Officer of the National Fire Service; the CEO of Standards Authority; the CEO of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA); the Director of the Land Use and Spatial Development Authority; and the Director of the Department of the Factories Inspectorate.

Reiterating his commitment to ensuring the full implementation of the measures, President Akufo-Addo assured that his government does not intend to follow the practice in recent years, where the political will to enforce measures protective of the citizenry has not been present.

“I do not intend to have that as a feature of my government. The people of Ghana are looking up to us to protect them. I want to emphasise that, beyond the statement that was issued yesterday, there is a strong political will that something will be done about it. I have a clear mandate to change things in this country,” President Akufo-Addo said

To the members of the Committee, President Akufo-Addo noted that the measures rolled out by his government “cannot work and will not work if those of you implementing it are not on board, dragging your feet or not adhering to its implementation.”

He, thus, urged them to co-operate and co-ordinate fully, and “get out of the practice I found, since coming into office, that the right hand and left hand don’t know what is going on in the same issue.”

The Committee members assured the President of their determination to enforce fully the measures rolled out by government, to forestall the occurrence of any more gas explosions, and to co-ordinate effectively their actions.

The CEO of the NPA, Hassan Tampuli, indicated, to this end, that from Friday, 13th October, 2017, his outfit has commenced the immediate inspection of all gas stations and the vigorous enforcement of existing regulations by the NPA.

Additionally, his outfit has begun reviewing safety protocols and, from Monday, 16th October, will begin the deployment of a task force to assess the risk that the current LPG infrastructure poses in terms of public health and safety.

Thus far, he noted that 21 high risk stations have been closed down, in accordance with relevant law and without regard to any political or special interests.

The National Fire Service assured the President that a full report of the Atomic Junction Gas explosion will be ready in two weeks.