Assaults involving corrosive substances, especially acids, have more than doubled in Ghana with about two cases reported every week.
The latest mobile acid attack involved a 23-year-old mobile money vendor, Kate Aidoo, who was bathed with acid by two men who robbed her of her sales.
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The incidence has led to growing calls for regulations to be tightened in the wake of the negative use of the product.
However, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), a key player in the regulatory environment says it has no knowledge of the fact that acid is sold in the open market.
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Director of Public Affairs at the EPA, Angelina Ama Tutuwa Mensah, on Adom FM’s morning show, Dwaso Nsem Friday said her outfit is only responsible for licensing industrial companies who use acid for industrial purposes.
She also said the EPA was having difficulty
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Madam Mensah revealed that the Market Surveillance Department at the EPA has only six staff – a situation she described as worrying.
“We need about four hundred people to enable us work effectively but we are doing our best,” she added.
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This notwithstanding, Madam Mensah stressed that, environmental protection is a shared responsibility therefore everyone must join to ensure people who use acid to perpetuate crime.
Source: Ghana|Adomonline.com|Adwoa Gyasiwaa Agyeman