The Presidential Candidate of the opposition New Patriotic Party has described the fire which razed the GOIL fuel station at the Kwame Nkrumah Circle and the floods which ravaged the capital as a dark moment in the history of the city.
Over a hundred people died in both the fire and floods while property worth millions of Ghana cedis were also reportedly destroyed.
Nana Akufo Addo described the incident as a dark moment in the history of the capital city and called on Ghanians to put their faith in God to carry them through the tragedy.
“It is a tragedy, a major tragedy for Accra. It is a dark moment in the history of our city. It is a trying moment for [the families of the deceased] but it is also the time where you have to renew your faith in the Almighty. He has a purpose despite all this. He has a purpose for each one of us. We have to pull together, ” Nana Addo told media at the Kwame Nkrumah Circle.
Nana Addo was accompanied by the General Secretary of the NPP, Kwabena Agyepong and several other members of the party when he visited the scene of the fire and other parts of the capital that had flooded.
‘Our thoughts are with the families’
Nana Akufo Addo stated that all thoughts at this difficult moment should be with the families of the deceased.
The NPP Flagbearer however, suggested that the failure of government to enforce its environmental laws contributed to the floods which ravaged the capital Accra last night.
“Our first thoughts have to go out to those who have lost their lives and their families as a result of this tragic event and all of us have to stand with them. The first thing is to deal with the loss and the tragedy and subsequently we have to examine what happened and see to what extent there’s been a failure in our laws and in the enforcement of our laws. But for the time being let’s focus attention on the human tragedy that has occurred,”
Very soon we will shift our attention to looking at how it happened and what we have to do in future to make sure that this kind of thing does not happen again in our city,” he added.
‘Catastrophic’ and ‘Unprecedented’
President Mahama who stated that he was at a loss to explain his emotions, described the number of deaths reported in the fire and floods as catastrophic and unprecedented when he visited the scene earlier.
“This loss of life is catastrophic, almost unprecedented. A lot of people have lost their lives. I am at a loss of words to express how I feel. Many of them through the floods, many still through and many still through the fire incident as a result of the explosion that took place, ” the president said.
By: Edwin Kwakofi/citifmonline.com/Ghana