Pay more attention to fire safety

The Afigya-Kwabre District Assembly has threatened the closure of filling stations, operating in the area without valid fire safety certificates and other relevant permits from the appropriate state institutions.

Mr. Kwaku Oppong-Kyekyeku Kaakyire, the District Chief Executive (DCE), said they would ensure that the right things are done.

There is no way the District Security Committee (DISEC) would allow any of the stations to flout the law, and that, it would drag offenders to court.

He gave the warning after an inspection tour of a number of gas, diesel and gasoline sales points to assess the safety measures they had put in place and their emergency response preparedness.

There are currently 28 filling stations doing business in the area and more are being added by the day.

Mr. Oppong-Kyekyeku expressed concern about the unhygienic conditions under which some were operating and said that was completely unacceptable.

He directed that they took immediate steps to tidy their places or face the appropriate punitive sanctions.

He also showed his disapproval of the situation where people use laterite to fill up river beds to enable them to construct filling stations and said the assembly would stop that practice.