Per the policy, all gas cylinders will be filled by cylinder bottling plants for onward delivery to retail outlets instead of the LPG outlets, to improve safety of LPG as well as increase access.

The policy, which was supposed to have been implemented in September, 2017, received stiff opposition from the Association of Gas Tanker Drivers.

[contextly_sidebar id=”3sGNhT2n2bxToe23BgUQbVDxXJhv6ddW”]The Tanker Drivers had earlier hinted of a nationwide strike if the National Petroleum Authority (NPA) fails to withdraw the policy, with the excuse that it will collapse their businesses.

But speaking to Citi News, Frances Essiam said the gas re-circulation policy if implemented, will halt future gas explosions in the country.

“If you go to the western world, do you have gas stations anywhere? Look at the re-circulation policy; we must allow it. We need to reinforce the policy direction…there must be a safer way of handing gas,” she added.

Frances Essiam made the call on the back of a Saturday’s gas explosion at the MANSCO gas station at Atomic Junction near the University of Ghana in Accra last Saturday.

In the process, seven people died, while 132 others sustained varied degrees of injury.

She also called for the closing down of gas filling stations mounted at dangerous places, while efforts are initiated to get them “designated commercial spaces.”

She also called for the prosecution of persons who illegally import cylinders into the country.

“Those corrupt state officials and agencies who aid crook businessmen in bringing these cylinders and gas bottles into the system, they should start hauling them to court. I believe going forward, all these filling stations within the municipalities should be closed down, and we must have clearly designated commercial spaces where these things are put,” she added.

–

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

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The sum raised will go towards the target of $1.8bn the UN says is needed to help millions facing starvation.

UN humanitarian chief Valerie Amos says it is still possible to prevent a famine in the conflict-torn country.

More than a million people have fled their homes since fighting erupted in December.

Unable to farm

Thousands have now died in the crisis that started as a political dispute between President Salva Kiir and his sacked deputy Riek Machar, but escalated into ethnic violence.

The conflict has left people unable to farm and with little access to food, aid experts say.

Nearly four million people in South Sudan are now at risk of serious food insecurity, according to the UN.

The UN’s humanitarian co-ordinator, Valerie Amos, said there was still “a small window of opportunity” to avert a famine before the rainy season begins.

“The important thing is to be able to get seeds and so on to people who are in desperate need… so that they are able to plant,” Ms Amos said.

“We can prevent the famine if there is enough food available for next year, but if there is not, if people are not able to plant, if the herders are not able to move, then we will face a severe crisis.”

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The South Sudanese authorities intercepted arms, ammunition and other items in a container which was mistakenly labelled as construction materials by the United Nations (UN).

The four-member delegation, led by the Deputy Minister of Defence, Mr Ebenezer Okletey Teye Larbi, is tasked to hold meetings with the South Sudanese authorities and United Nations (UN) officials on the need to hand over the military equipment to the Ghanaian soldiers.

Other members of the delegation are the Chief of Army Staff, Major General Richard Opoku-Adusei, the Chairman of the Parliamentary Select Committee on Defence and Security, Mr Fritz Baffour, and the Forces Sergeant Major, Chief Warrant Officer Owusu Dickson.

The Minister of Defence, Mr Mark Woyongo, who made this known to the Daily Graphic, indicated that the UN shipped the container from Cote d’Ivoire to South Sudan in February this year.

He said the container was meant to be delivered to the military base of the Ghanaian soldiers in South Sudan but it was intercepted by South Sudanese officials.

He said following discussions between President John Mahama and his South Sudanese counterpart, Salva Kiir,the South Sudanese authorities agreed to release the container.

However, after scanning the container, the South Sudanese authorities found that it contained military equipment and subsequently decided not to give it out again.

The minister said following that decision, he called the South Sudanese Ambassador to Ghana last Thursday for a meeting on the issue.

He said it was the outcome of that meeting that a decision be taken to send the delegation to South Sudan to talk with the authorities there to seek the release of the equipment.

Safety of Ghanaian soldiers

There are currently 300 Ghanaian soldiers on a peacekeeping mission in South Sudan. The soldiers were earlier in Cote d’Ivoire before they were moved to South Sudan in February this year.

According to Mr Woyongo, Ghana would be sending an additional 550 soldiers to

South Sudan by the end of July this year to raise the number to 850 and form a battalion.

He said it was, therefore, important for the South Sudanese authorities to release the military equipment to the Ghanaian soldiers for them to protect themselves against attacks.

The minister said it was dangerous for the Ghanaian soldiers to carry out their peacekeeping operations without any equipment.

“We are concerned about the safety of our soldiers. We value their lives. We do not want them to be slaughtered.

We do not want to lose the lives of our soldiers. That is why we are sending the delegation,” he said.

South Sudan, officially the Republic of South Sudan, is a landlocked country in north eastern Africa.

It gained independence from The Sudan in 2011.

Source:  Daily Graphic

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Mariam Yahya Ibrahim was charged with apostasy as well as adultery for marrying a Christian man, something prohibited for Muslim women to do and which makes the marriage void.

The final ruling will be announced on Thursday. Ibrahim’s case was the first of its kind to be heard in Sudan.

Young Sudanese university students have mounted a series of protests near Khartoum University in recent weeks asking for an end to human rights abuses, more freedoms and better social and economic conditions. The authorities decided on Sunday to close the university indefinitely.

Western embassies and Sudanese activists sharply condemned the accusations and called on the Sudanese Islamist-led government to respect freedom of faith.

“The details of this case expose the regime’s blatant interference in the personal life of Sudanese citizens,” Sudan Change Now Movement, a youth group, said in a statement.

President Omar Hassan al-Bashir’s government is facing a huge economic and political challenge after the 2011 secession of South Sudan, which was Sudan’s main source of oil.

A decision by Bashir last year to cut subsidies and impose austerity measures prompted violent protests in which dozens were killed and hundreds were injured.

Credit: Reuters

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