Date: Oct 04 , 2019, 2019 .BY: Benjamin Xornam Glover
At least 15 bulk road vehicles (BRVs), otherwise known as fuel
tankers, loaded with petroleum products were burnt when fire engulfed a fuel
storage depot at Kpone in the Greater Accra
 |
| Firemen from the Ghana National Fire Service making efforts to douse the fire |
Two other BRVs at the
nearby Tanker Yard of Goodness Energy, an oil marketing company, were partially
affected by the fire.
Firefighters could not immediately determine the
cause of the blaze, but the Chamber of Petroleum Consumers (CPC) said it
suspected foul play.
Some eyewitnesses too
gave an indication that the fire might have been caused by an attempt to
transfer fuel from one tanker to another.
The fire, which started
in the late hours of Wednesday, was extinguished by firemen from the Ghana
National Fire Service (GNFS).
It took six fire engines from the Tema Office of the GNFS to bring the blaze
under control.
Injury
One person was
reportedly injured when he tried to safeguard some fuel tankers and other
valuables in the yard, but officials of the GNFS could not confirm that.
Speaking to the Daily Graphic, the Deputy Tema Regional Fire Commander,
Divisional Officer One Mr Timothy O. Affum, said the office received a call
about the outbreak of the fire about 7.30 p.m. last Wednesday.
He said on arrival at
the tanker yard, firemen realised that the blaze was very intense and so they
had to call for reinforcement.
The firemen were able to
put out the fire by 2 a.m. yesterday, but soon after they left, the fire
reignited and after hours of effort, it was totally extinguished about 7a.m.
Mr Affum said there were about 35 fuel tankers in the yard at the time of the
incident, and that after the firefighters had managed to confine the fire, they
advised that the rest of the vehicles be moved out.
When the Daily Graphic
visited the area yesterday, none of the workers around was ready to speak on
the issue.
They later locked up the
facility and left.
Chamber of Petroleum Consumers suspicious
The incident had
elicited a damning reaction from the CPC, which said it believed the fire had
erupted as a result of “some illegal fuel boxing or adulteration activities
within the said yard”.
“Intelligence sources
indicate the blast had been occasioned by some illegal activities resulting
from the boxing of some premix fuel with PMS and AGO using manual pumps in the
process,” a statement signed by the Executive Secretary of the chamber, Mr Duncan
Amoah, said.
“While this unfortunate
practice of mixing or adulteration of fuels is heavily frowned upon and
sanctions should be strict and severe, recent developments suggest very little
has been achieved in that regard.
“Reports of premix fuel
diversions abound and we expect the authorities to clamp down heavily on these
operators who are engaged in this illegal trade of diverting premix fuel meant
for fishing boats to some tank yards to be adulterated with other petroleum
products for onward sale and discharge at some specific fuel stations,” it
said.
Profound adulteration
According to the CPC,
last Wednesday’s fire further exposed the profound nature of the adulteration
of petroleum products, a development that continued to be a major headache for
the authorities and Ghanaian fuel consumers.
“A recently launched
industry report by the CBOD estimates that about GH¢2.7 billion in revenue due
the state had been lost to these illegal operators within the past three years.
It is thus our expectation that the state will go after these operators to
clamp down on such activities to forestall any further revenue losses to the
state,” it said.
It noted that the
practice of diverting and adulterating fuel products not only deprived the
state of much needed revenue but also put consumers at a very high risk of
developing all manner of mechanical and transmission challenges with their
vehicles, as the resultant products were usually far below the acceptable
minimum national specifications and standards.
“While we believe proper
investigations will be carried out at the said tank yard, we would want to see
perpetrators of such criminal practices of diverting and adulterating petroleum
products brought to book immediately to serve as a deterrent to others engaged
in this illegal trade.
“We further call on the
National Petroleum Authority (NPA) and the Ghana Standards Authority to
immediately conduct an audit trail of all such products sent to some of these
tanker yards and the fuel stations that buy or patronise such products in order
to protect the unsuspecting public from the harm adulteration does to our
engines, as any attempt to cover or protect the perpetrators will not be
countenanced,” the statement said.
No comments:
Post a Comment