Latest on the list of the numerous Atomic Explosion reactions is a lawsuit by an 87-year-old woman against four government institutions…
An 87-year-old woman has file a suit against the National Petroleum Authority (NPA), Accra Metropolitan Assembly (AMA), the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Ghana National Fire Service (GNFS) over the siting of a filling station close to her residence.
Also See: What You Don’t Know about the Atomic Junction Explosions
Her suit comes on the back of the recent massive explosions at Madina Atomic Junction which culminated in a fatal fire accident that claimed lives, injured many and destroyed properties in the area. The suit was reportedly filed at an Accra High Court 72 hours after the Madina explosions.
The plaintiff who resides at Tesano in Accra, says the presence of an Allied Oil filling station near her home is exposing her life to danger. According to the old woman, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) did not conduct an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) to know the danger she will be exposed to when the fuel station was constructed.
Per an NPA directive, no filling station should be built 100 to 200 meters away from a residence. But Lawyer for the plaintiff, Nana Akwasi Awuah who spoke to Joy News’ Daniel Dadzie on Monday, said the Allied Oil filling station has been sited “just a few meters away” from his client’s house, thus breaching the safety directive.
Mr. Awuah said his client was ignored and her safety disregarded by the appropriate regulatory authorities that gave Allied Oil the permit. She is therefore, accusing the above regulatory authorities of not following laid down procedure in the granting of permits.
“We’ve taken all these institutions including the Ghana National Fire Service to court to look at the laws and regulations governing the construction of fuel stations in this country,” he said.
The Atomic Junction Explosion which occurred on Saturday, October 7, has since sparked debates in the country about the siting of filling stations near human settlements.
Students of the University of Professional Studies, Accra (UPSA), staged a massive protest on Monday morning over the citing of the Strategic Energy Limited (SEL) fuel station just behind their school.
That was however, not the first time the students are staging such demonstration over the location of the fuel station. Recall that in 2016, UPSA students staged a demo over the same issue some days after the Takoradi Gas Station Explosion hit the nation on May 9, leaving scores with varying degrees of injuries.
This year’s demonstration by the students received strong support from the University Authorities, who backed the students’ fears considering the high incidences of gas station explosions across the country in recent times. Moreover, latest reports show that the University is considering resorting to a court action, to have the SEL fuel station shut down.
Numbering among the Atomic explosion reactions are calls by popular pressure group, OccupyGhana for a temporary ban to be placed on on-site dispensing of gas. Their demands was made known in a recentmstatement released by the group.
“OccupyGhana® would recommend the banning of all on-site dispensing of gas. We side with the decision of the National Petroleum Authority to regulate the downstream gas distribution by phasing out refilling of LPG gas at LPG dispensing stations. Thus, instead of having LPG dispensing outlets, all gas cylinders will be filled by cylinder bottling plants for onward distribution to retail outlets,” part of the statement reads.
According to the group, the ban is very necessary at least until appropriate safety measures are put in place for the operations of gas companies across the country.
