A ministerial coordinating committee mandated to enforce and ensure strict adherence to the new regulatory measures for the operations of the Liquefied Petroleum Gas industry in the country has been setup by government.
The Ministerial Committee comprises Minister for Energy, Boakye Agyarko, as Chairman; 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.
Consequently, the Ministerial Committee will be supported by a Technical Implementation Committee, chaired by the Chief Executive Officer, National Petroleum Authority (NPA), Hassan Tampuli, the Chief Fire Officer, National Fire Service; the CEO of Ghana Standards Authority; the CEO of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA); the Director of the Land Use and Spatial Development Authority; and the Director of Department of the Factories Inspectorates.
Inaugurating the Committees, President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo indicated that government’s commitment to ensuring the full implementation of the measures and assured 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, there is a strong political will that something will be done about it.”
He said: “I have a clear mandate to change things in this country.”
According to President Akufo-Addo, 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 urged the Committee to co-operate and co-ordinate fully, and “get out of the practice” of what seem to be the habit of one do not know what the other does concerning 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, explained that the Authority had already commenced the immediate inspection of all gas stations and the vigorous enforcement of existing regulations.
Additionally, his outfit has begun reviewing safety protocols and from next week Monday, it 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.
According to him, 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.
