General News of Monday, 9 October 2017
Source: Myjoyonline.com
2017-10-09
The Allied Oil fuel station at Tesano
The National Petroleum Authority (NPA), Accra Metropolitan Assembly (AMA) and two other institutions have been sued over the siting of a filling station at Tesano in Accra.
The plaintiff, an 87-year-old woman said her life has been exposed to danger by the presence of an Allied Oil filling station near her home.
She said 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.
Lawyer for the plaintiff, Nana Akwasi Awuah said her client was ignored and her safety disregarded by the appropriate regulatory authorities that gave Allied Oil the permit.
“We’ve taken all these institutions including the Ghana National Fire Service to court [in order] to look at the laws and regulations governing the construction of fuel stations in this country,” she told Joy News’ Daniel Dadzie Monday.
The suit was filed at an Accra High Court 72 hours after a huge gas explosion at Atomic Junction in Accra left seven people dead, with 134 others injured.
Investigations into the cause of Saturday inferno are underway.
The tragedy has stoked debate in the country about the siting of filling stations near human settlements.
The NPA has directed no filling stations has to be built about 100 or 200 meters away from a residence.
But Mr Awuah said the Allied Oil filling station has been sited “just a few meters away” from his client’s house.
His client is accusing the regulatory authorities of not following laid down procedure in the granting of permits.
