NPA shuts down LPG station after Today expose’

Today can confirm that the National Petroleum Authority (NPA) has completely shut down the Mamba Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) refilling plant at Santa-Maria Last Stop in the Ga Central Municipality of the Greater Accra region.

According to sources, the decision by the NPA was premised on the grounds that the location of the Mamba LPG station was dangerous, and also had the propensity to cause havoc which situation could have led to loss of lives and properties in the area.

The decision, sources close to NPA told the paper was taken in collaboration with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the Ghana National Fire Service (GNFS), Ghana Standard Authority (GSA), and the Town and Country Planning Department (TCPD).

The move, the sources further said, followed Today’s June 26, 2015 edition which reported on its front page that residents in Santa-Maria Last Stop were not happy with the location of the Mamba LPG filling station, claiming “it posed a serious threat to them.”

In that story, the obviously worried residents pleaded with the above-mentioned state regulatory authorities to take immediate steps to close down the Mamba LPG filling station so as to safeguard lives and properties.

The residents continued that the Mamba LPG station had been built on the Lafa River near a refuse dump at Santa-Maria Last Stop, which they warned, could cause the river to overflow its bank in case of even a moderate rainfall.

What even made the situation highly precarious was the fact that part of the Lafa river bank had been encroached upon by the Mamba LPG station.

That development, the residents said, has been the cause of the perennial flooding in the area, anytime it rains.

A visit by Today to the Mamba LPG station at Santa-Maria Last Stop on Thursday, July 2, 2015 showed that a "No Gas" signpost had been boldly displayed at the entrance of the station, forcing domestic and commercial consumers to return home with empty cylinders.

An attendant at the station who spoke to Today on condition of anonymity disclosed that some officials of NPA, EPA together with police officers on Wednesday, July 1, 2015 came to the station and ordered its owners to shut down until further notice.

Early on Friday, July 3, 2015 Today spotted workers and owners of the Mamba LPG filling station busily preparing to relocate to an unknown destination.

Meanwhile, the shutdown of the station had hit hard taxi drivers and food vendors who depend on gas for their services.

A disappointed taxi driver, Mr. Emmanuel Tettey, whose car runs on LPG, said he used the little gas he had in his car hoping to get some from the Mamba Filling Station but was disappointed on his arrival.

A fried yam seller near the Santa-Maria Last Stop Lorry Park was also disappointed as she had to rely on charcoal to fry her yam so as to stay in business.

Speaking in an interview with Today on condition of anonymity, some opinion leaders at Santa Maria Last Stop expressed satisfaction with the NPA’s decision to shut down the LPG station in the area.