Vice President Dr. Mahamadu Bawumia says the government will soon roll out tough policies to address the increasing spate of fire disasters in the country.
This revelation follows a crunch meeting held last night in the wake of the explosion at the Atomic Junction in Accra.
Addressing the media after visiting the site of the fire disaster Sunday morning, the Vice President also warned against any form of resistance to the upcoming policy by individuals or group of persons.
“This is one too many. This is about the eighth explosion that has happened in three years, and I think what Ghanaians really want is solid policies to deal with this once and for all. We are going to move to deal with it.
“It is not about committees upon committees and nothing gets done. I think that we owe it to the country and the government is going to take this very seriously,” he assured.
He said the National Petroleum Authority (NPA), the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the Energy Ministry, the Fire Service will be involved in the formulation of the new policy.
“We are going to move quite quickly to do it. It is not going to be one that you will wait weeks for it to happen. It is going to happen relatively quickly,” he said.
Dr. Bawumia also commended the security services, and other stakeholders for their efforts in dealing with the situation.
“I would like on behalf the President, to thank our security services. The Fire Service responded very quickly within one and half hours to try to get this under control.
“The police, the military, NADMO, the Health Services, it was a major effort and the disaster could have been much bigger, but for their intervention,” he said.
A huge explosion at a gas filling station at the Atomic Junction, Mansco Gas Filling Station, close to the sprawling Madina Zongo Junction in Accra shook the capital on Saturday evening.
Eye-witnesses say the explosion struck when a gas tanker was offloading its contents at the station.
The death toll currently stands at seven with at least132 injured. Some 64 persons have been treated and discharged from various hospitals, an official report said.
There has been a long-standing debate about the citing of fuel stations close to residential areas, however, a lack of political will has meant that the issue comes up only when there is a disaster.
Listen to Dr. Bawumia