The tanker belonging to Benab oil, with registration number AW 7138-12, had some of its content spilling after it veered off the road.

Reports indicate that, the tanker was traveling from Tema to Accra when incident occurred on Friday afternoon.

Citi News’ Tema Correspondent, Elvis Washington, reported that the accident happened near the overhead bridge that connects to the Adjei Kojo township.

He said there is a team of police personnel and officers from the fire service at the scene trying to clear the area.

“As we speak, traffic is actually heavy on the motorway with no vehicle coming from the Accra to Tema stretch. Traffic on the opposite side is also moving at a snail pace,” he added.

Speaking to Elvis Washington, Chairman of the Tanker Drivers Union, Sunday Alabi, said the driver of the said tanker told them that his steer was automatically locked thus making driving of the vehicle difficult.

“In the process, the vehicle skidded off, turned into the Tema bound lane. One of the [2] mates sustained injuries and has been rushed to the hospital. We are waiting for another tanker so we offload the content into it so that we can lift the truck from the road.”

He added that, the driver and one of the mates are safe.

Overturned petrol tanker scares drivers on Tema Motorway

On January 29, 2018, an overturned petrol tanker on the Tema Motorway also left vehicular traffic at a standstill for about two hours.

There were fears from some drivers that gas was leaking from the tanker, which could have led to an explosion. However, it was later confirmed that, the tanker was loaded with petrol.

Fire service personnel and police officers managed to bring the situation under control, and cleared the road for motorists.

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By: Godwin Akweiteh Allotey/citifmonline.com/Ghana
Follow @AlloteyGodwin

The post Fuel tanker blocks part of Tema Motorway [Photos] appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

This comes at a time when the country’s fishing industry is on the brink of collapse due to numerous challenges including the lack premix fuel and the high cost of the product.

[contextly_sidebar id=”vxYmBmk8D2OLXNnB8exvwu8xnxj39M0r”]Citi News gathered that in January 2017 for instance, premix fuel consignments loaded from the Tema Oil Refinery, were not delivered to the intended destinations indicated on the invoices and Returns of the Oil Marketing Companies, OMCs.

A document sighted by the Citi News from the National Petroleum Authority (NPA) indicated that, there were 12 major diversions of pre-mix fuel in January alone.

In all instances, although the product was documented to be bound for the Volta Region, they ended up in Accra, according to information obtained by the NPA’s BRV Tracking System and Returns.

Although the NPA identified the challenge, very little seem to have been done to arrest the situation.

Citi News has sighted series of letters from the NPA to the National Pre-mix committee informing it about the development between February and October, but no action had been taken.

In one of the letters, the NPA said, “it was also noted that officials of the Landing Beach Committees (LBCs) of these intended destinations have signed and stamped the National Petroleum Authority (NPA) Fuel Delivery forms as having received the product. This constitutes a misrepresentation of the facts of the deliveries to the UPPF. In view of this, the UFFP SEcretariate has rejected all freight claims in respect of the these suspected diversions.”

Fisheries sector terribly affected

The country’s fishing industry is almost crippled due to reasons including the lack of pre-mix fuel. In July 2017, fisher-folk experienced a massive shortage of pre-mix fuel as the fishing season reached its peak.

This affected the country’s fish supply, allowing excess importation of fish and fish products from other countries.

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By: Jonas Nyabor/citifmonline.com/Ghana

The post Massive diversion of pre-mix fuel uncovered as fishermen suffer appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.