President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo says the time for talking is over, and now is the time for action.
Reiterating the government’s resolve to bring decency and guarantee the safety and security of people in the fuel and gas distribution chain, the President said the government would not delay in coming out with the necessary measures to contain gas and fuel explosions in the country.
He was speaking when he visited the scene of the gas explosion at the Atomic Junction in Accra on Monday.
The sound of the explosion was heard in nearby communities, including Madina, Adenta, Legon, Haatso, Agbogba, Ashongman and Dome, where people ran helter skelter for their lives.
The President was briefed on the incident by the Minister of Energy, Mr Boakye Agyarko, and the Chief Executive of the National Petroleum Authority (NPA), Mr Alhassan Tampuli.
Mr Hassan Tampuli (right), the NPA boss, briefing President Akufo-Addo at the accident site.
Some officials of the National Disaster Management Organisation (NADMO) accompanied the President on the visit.
Describing the incident that claimed seven lives, including a cameraman of NET 2 TV and member of the Presidential Press Corps, as regrettable and most unfortunate, President Nana Akufo-Addo said,”the time for talking is over and that the time for action is now”.
Cabinet is scheduled to meet on Thursday, October 12, 2017 to consider policy options to ensure sanity in the distribution of fuel and gas.
But even before the meeting, reports indicate that some sections of the oil and gas industry are not happy with some of the policy options.
The President expressed his condolences to the families of those who lost their lives and wished those who sustained various degrees of injury speedy recovery,adding never should the nation collectively allow such an incident to happen again.
Cameraman’s death
Mohammed Yakubu Ashiley, the cameraman for NET 2 TV who was accredited to report at the Flagstaff House, died in the line of duty while covering the gas explosion.
He was reported to have fallen off the Atomic Junction Flyover leading to Madina when, in an attempt to position himself well to capture the explosion, he moved to the opposite direction while the strong wind blowing at the time unexpectedly re-directed the blast impact in his direction.
Having confirmed Mohammed’s death at the Police Hospital, the Chief Executive Officer of Kencity Media, owners of NET 2 TV, Mrs Stella Agyapong, led a delegation from the company and members of the family of the late cameraman to inform the Presidency about the tragedy.
Recounting what happened to Mohammed, Mrs Agyapong said when the first blast occurred, Mohammed was in the office and immediately asked for a camera to go to the scene to capture the incident.
When he failed to obtain an official camera, he proceeded with his own small camera to the scene in order to capture the images of the incident.
According to Mrs Agyapong, there were other reporters from Kencity at the scene and that one sustained a fractured leg, while another had other injuries, but Mohammed, as the case was, passed on.
President Nana Akufo-Addo expressed his deepest condolences and that of his government to the management of Kencity Media and the family of the deceased.
He related that the deceased was a committed member of his media team whom he knew personally and recounted that Mohammed had recently accompanied the First Lady, Mrs Rebecca Akufo-Addo, on a national assignment to Zambia.
Previous cases
Ghana has recorded eight major gas explosions in the past three years.
The cases, which were recorded between 2014 and 2017, led to the death of more than 200 people, including the Kwame Nkrumah Circle explosion on June 3, 2015.
Six of the explosions were recorded in the Greater Accra Region, one in Takoradi in the Western Region and one at Kasoa in the Central Region.
The most recent gas explosion occurred at Atomic Junction, near Madina in Accra, on Saturday, October 7, 2017.
Two of the explosions occurred in 2014, two in 2015, one in 2016 and three in 2017.
