The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has reminded fuel and Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) station managers in the Upper East Region, of their responsibility to maintain safety standards in their respective operational areas.
Addressing the stakeholders in Bolgatanga, the Regional Director of the EPA, Mr Asher Nkegbe, said obtaining permits from the District Assemblies, the EPA, National Petroleum Authority, Town and Country Planning Department, the Ghana National Fire Service, among others, was not enough if safety was relegated to the background.
He said safety standards, among which are the installation of observation wells for the early detection of leakage, provision of oil interceptors, the routine training of staff on safety controls and ensuring that such training programmes are put into practice, could go a long way to minimize the occurrence of accidents..
The Regional Director told the Managers that failure to comply with mitigation measures as enshrined in the Environmental permit would lead to the suspension or the revocation of the permit.
“Continuous accidents can also have a substantial effect on Insurance premium since it will be difficult to find insurance cover. It will therefore be too expensive and could erode your profit margins” Mr Nkegbe stressed.
The Regional Director gave the assurance that the EPA would continue to execute its mandate by carrying out its routine monitoring and evaluation exercise, particularly on the Environmental Impact Assessment and sound safety measures to help curb disasters.
He urged the Managers to form Associations to afford them a common platform and one voice to help address issues affecting them.
The Managers lauded the efforts of the EPA for organizing the engagement meeting, and called for such meetings to be organized twice in each year.
“This kind of engagement is good for us since it will always help us refresh our minds and remind us of the sound safety measures to implement in our respective stations to avoid any eventuality”, the Managers stated.
