NPA closes down 21 LPG stations

The National Petroleum Authority (NPA) has closed down 21 Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) stations for failing to meet various safety standards during an inspection on Thursday, October 12, 2017.

The Chief Executive of NPA Alhassan Tampuli said: “Our inspection and monitoring team closed down 21 stations across the country, now that is just the number of stations that they monitored and today they will continue and hopefully continue next week.”

The close down of LPG stations follows a gas explosion at Atomic Junction which killed 7 and left 132 persons injured.

Subsequently, the cabinet issued some directives to help prevent such incidents from occurring.

In a statement issued by the Information Minister, Mustapha Hamid, he said they agreed that the Cylinder Recirculation Module proposed by the NPA should be implemented.

“At the Cabinet meeting of 12th October 2017, the President of the Republic, on the advice of Cabinet, directed that henceforth the Cylinder Recirculation Model of Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) distribution be implemented. This model means that LPG Bottling Plants will be sited away from congested commercial and population centres and will procure, brand, maintain and fill empty cylinders to be distributed to consumers and households through retail outlets. Low-risk stations will be designated for the supply of gas to vehicles. This whole exercise must be completed within one year.”

However, the Association of Gas Tanker Drivers has been against this move. They argue that this will leave a lot more people unemployed across the country.