A former Chief Executive Officer of the National Petroleum Authority in the John Mahama administration is advocating the introduction of centralized automatic fuel stations in non-commercial and residential areas.
His proposal came hours after Ghana was hit by another Gas explosion at Atomic Junction in Accra.
Meanwhile, the Energy Ministry has already started a discussion in this regard.
Mr. Alex Mould in his statement said “Government should take serious the closing down all the filling depots for safety reasons and having 3/4 filling stations in the country and using the existing depots as re-selling depots only.”
He said discharge protocols should be strictly adhered to, suggesting that could have been the cause of the latest explosion, and was the cause of the last three such explosions.
“These explosions are normally when a tanker is discharging and there is a leakage in the coupling (make to female connections on the offloading hoses). The seals in these couplings become brittle and as such fail to seal the liquid discharge and some gas escapes. Sometimes too the coupling just removes and large spillages occur. Normally, these are rectified when there are attendants watching with the fire warden standing by ready with carbon dioxide and foam retardants. It is similar to the seals in your home cylinder where the regulator from your stove pipe goes into the cylinder” the former NPA CEO explained.