We are committed to Sustainable Energy for All goals - Ghana LPG operators Association

The Ghana LPG operators Association has reiterated their commitment to ensuring the safety of their consumers

The Association in a press release said, “It is important to note here that, no accident in any form is desirable and it is regrettable, the pain, the suffering, loss of lives and properties occasioned by these accidents”

According to the release, the association has prepared and presented a Safety Proposals to the Ministry of Energy to be adhered to by all operators.

“Key among other recommendations which we can share here is that, going forward, Stations should procure Electric Discharge Pumps to ensure incident free LPG transfers” it said

“We are all aware that Safety is a shared responsibility that is why the LPG Operators do their best on Safety standards at the stations” it said

Read full release below

POST ATOMIC JUNCTION EXPLOSION

As you are already aware, a year ago after the unfortunate gas explosions at the Mansco refilling plant at Atomic Junction, cabinet directed the implementation of the Cylinder Recirculation Model (CRM) of LPG distribution to replace the current model of gas distribution in a bid to curb what was claimed to be incessant 'LPG explosions' in the country. At the time, it was reported that 8 gas explosions had happened in 3 years. This information is however inaccurate and will be addressed as we go along.

One year on, as expected the incident is being revisited to see if, lessons have been learned; how they are being applied and the status of the CRM directed by cabinet.

It will perhaps come as a surprise to many that a year after such a major incident rocked the whole nation, a fire report has still not been made available to key stakeholders to ascertain the exact cause of the explosion for its recommendations to be applied in order to avoid future recurrence.

This unfortunate situation notwithstanding, GLiPGOA has taken positive steps to act based on its own investigation of the accident.

In the close to 30 years of operating the current model of LPG distribution, there have been 6 accidents, almost all involving bulk road vehicles discharging gas whether at a station or a bulk consumer’s storage facility. The first gas explosion happened in Kumasi (during discharge of gas at a refilling plant), the second happened at Tema Newtown, the third (not during discharge) happened at La-Trade Fair. The fourth happened at Takoradi but in a factory, the fifth happened at Haatso, Atomic Junction (which is about a year ago), the six happened at Tesano (during discharge but was contained).

Our Bulk Road Vehicles (BRVs) are inspected and Licensed for a fee by NPA yearly, so if they are involved in fire incident the NPA must be held responsible; not station Owners or Operators.

NONE of these accidents happened while the stations were performing their core activity of refilling cylinders and auto vehicles. In fact, there is no record of any station ever exploding on account of this core activity, NEVER, although in the past concerns have been expressed about conditions under which some stations operate. These concerns have been responded to by significantly improved standards at these refilling plants.

It is important to note here that, no accident in any form is desirable and it is regrettable, the pain, the suffering, loss of lives and properties occasioned by these accidents.

It is in response to this situation, having CLEARLY identified the problem and resolved that NEVER AGAIN should this happen, that GLiPGOA has prepared and delivered Safety Proposals to the Ministry.

Key among other recommendations which we can share here is that, going forward, Stations should procure Electric Discharge Pumps to ensure incident free LPG transfers.

On the matter of the CRM implementation, GLiPGOA has stated clearly its opposition to it as: not being the panacea to public and facility safety; it will not achieve the government’s national LPG promotion policy objective of 50% penetration by 2030 and also that, the policy is discriminatory and infringes on our human rights as indigenous Ghanaians who have equal opportunity to invest in a legitimate business. At best the objectives of this policy are ostensible and only serve the interests of those strongly advocating for it, and certainly not the ordinary Ghanaian who has the PURCHASING FREEDOM under the current model.

It is for these reasons that we find ourselves currently in court.

We wish to state for the avoidance of doubt that GLiPGOA remains committed to the Sustainable Energy for All (SE4ALL) goals of reducing Household Air Pollution (HAP - that is causing the deaths of several thousands of Ghanaians each year) and arresting the rapid rate of deforestation with its associated climate change impacts.

We are all aware that Safety is a shared responsibility that is why the LPG Operators do their best on Safety standards at the stations. Public Safety cuts across board, it is not limited to the LPG Industry alone. At Nine (9) months into this year, more than One Thousand, Sever Hundred (1,700) people had died on account of road accidents. Has any authority banned the cars from plying the roads? Or will the roads be closed? It is unfair to do that to LPG retailers for the same reasons.

Our heartfelt condolences goes to the families who lost their loved ones and properties in all of the above mentioned accidents.

God save our motherland Ghana!

Signed

12th November, 2018