The Chief Executive Officer (CEO), of the National Petroleum Authority (NPA), Hassan Tampuli, has defended Cabinet\u2019s new\u00a0directives intended to curb fuel explosions in the country.<\/p>\n
His comment is in reaction to a caution by former Minister for Environment, Science Technology and Innovation, Mahama Ayariga, who suggested that, Cabinet\u2019s decision to suspend the construction of ongoing gas and petrol\/diesel stations, is illegal.<\/p>\n
On Thursday, a Cabinet meeting saw the introduction of some nine safety measures to ensure sanity within the fuel distribution chain nationwide, and to ostensibly curtail explosions.<\/p>\n
These safety measures are aside President Nana Akufo-Addo ordering the implementation of the Cylinder Re-circulation Model of Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) distribution.<\/p>\n
Some of the directives have however been met with disagreements especially within the LPG retail sector.<\/p>\n
But Mr. Tampuli, who was speaking on the Citi Breakfast Show<\/strong>, said, \u201cThis is a decision that is being taken by the President of the Republic of Ghana, in accordance with the constitution of Ghana, and other existing laws of the land. Article 57 vests executive powers in the President, and 58 (3) says the president can do so directly or through other officers who are subordinates to him. So even if the President decides to say that the Ministry of Information or Ministry of Energy should do this on his behalf, he\u2019ll be doing this in accordance with law.\u201d<\/p>\n In response to comments that cabinet is only an advisory body, the NPA boss said, \u201cto a large extent, under the constitution, Cabinet is only an advisory body, but its decisions and directives are not decisions of the Cabinet. Per the statement, the President issued the directive on his mandate with cabinet playing an advisory role.\u201d<\/p>\n Prior to the gas explosion at Atomic junction on October 7, there had been talks at government level regarding the implementation of the Cylinder Re-circulation Model of LPG distribution.<\/p>\n The model will ensure that LPG filling points are sited\u00a0out of densely populated areas and commercial\u00a0centres.<\/p>\n In the aftermath of the Atomic gas explosion which killed seven persons and injured some 132 others, talks on the Cylinder Re-circulation Model of LPG distribution intensified, resulting in cabinet\u2019s swift move in introducing the nine directives meant to curb fuel explosions.<\/p>\n Cabinet\u2019s Nine \u2018Tough\u2019 Decisions<\/strong><\/p>\n Of these nine directives, the impending closure of high-risk fuel stations across the country within 30-days, and the halting of the construction of new petrol\/diesel and LPG filling points nationwide, have been described as \u201cunfair.\u201d<\/p>\n According to Mahama Ayariga, owners of these properties \u201chave already obtained the necessary permits, have the appropriate clearance and have taken loans to invest in these projects, and that consequently, such a directive will only\u00a0burden the owners.<\/p>\n But Mr. Tampuli maintains that \u201c\u2026governance is a dynamic arrangement. You do things based on the existences of the time. You cannot tell me that I should apply 2010 law to matters that have come up in 2017\u2026 We have to assess the situation and determine whether or not, even though the state has permitted you to put up that structure there, because of the information that has come to our notice currently, we do not think the permit we granted you to proceed is proper.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cSo we can take back the permit that has been given to you. The state has the power to do so. The state cannot be in a straight-jacket situation.\u201d<\/p>\n –<\/p>\n By: Marie-Franz Fordjoe\/citifmonline\/Ghana<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The Chief Executive Officer (CEO), of the National Petroleum Authority (NPA), Hassan Tampuli, has defended Cabinet\u2019s new\u00a0directives intended to curb fuel explosions in the country. His comment is in reaction to a caution by former Minister for Environment, Science Technology and Innovation, Mahama Ayariga, who suggested that, Cabinet\u2019s decision to suspend the construction of ongoing […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":14,"featured_media":361656,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[10,11],"tags":[3,808,809],"yoast_head":"\n\n