61 LPG gas stations permitted to start operations
The National Petroleum Authority has now given access to 61 out of the 85 stranded Liquefied Petroleum Gas stations to be fully functional.
This relief comes after five years of wait following the government’s decision to toughen up on safety measures after a horrific gas explosion in 2017 at Atomic Junction in Accra claimed several lives and destroyed properties worth millions of Cedis. The decision subsequently led to the ban of building new gas stations to properly regulate the system.
Many gas station operators were left frustrated by the decision as it took so much time for the government to address the situation. An industrial action which lasted for a week at the beginning of August got the government’s attention to their plight and forced a decision to lift the ban.
Soon after the ban was lifted, the regulator asked for all persons who had LPG stations already in the process of acquiring license to operate to submit their documents for processing, an act which has now resulted in over 60 of them getting approval to be fully operational.
Meanwhile, the Public Relations Officer for the NPA, Mohammed Abdul-Kudus during an interview on Citi FM said the NPA decided to allow the 61 stations to operate after a series of meetings with the cabinet.
“As we know, the earlier decision was taken by the cabinet after the Atomic gas explosion. It was taken to prevent similar situations in the future.”
“Nevertheless, we have had to review the decision and allow for those whose LPG stations were already in the process. We are not working with fresh applications for now.”
