The Acting Chief Executive Officer of the National Petroleum Authority (NPA), Godwin Edudzi Tameklo, has called for strong and stiffer punishment for the unauthorized establishment of fuel stations in the country.
Addressing the Parliamentary Select Committee on Energy at Senchi on Saturday, Mr. Tameklo raised concern about the surge of individuals setting up fuel stations without prior authorization.
According to him, the current penalties for such infractions as inadequate and ineffective, creating room for such actions.
He said, “The thing that we are looking forward to is a possibility of increasing the penalties because as we speak now the penalties are so low if somebody does a diversion and is charged for say 15,000 cedis, it’s not punitive enough and so some of these things keep occurring.”
“You have a situation where somebody can just go and set up a fuel station and later, he will not come to us for license when he has set it up already and the penalty for such activity is less than 20,000. So, if you set up a fuel station and when you are caught and you can come back and pay 20,000 and have your license then there’s really no disincentive to stop people from engaging in such activity. So, at the right time we’ll be approaching the committee so that we can look at a review of the penalties particularly. ”
Mr. Tameklo noted the potential dangers posed by such unlawful operations, highlighting the effect of the Atomic Junction explosion near Hatso.
The NPA says it remains committed to ensuring that all fuel station operations are conducted within the legal and regulatory framework to protect lives, property, and the environment.
Mr. Tamelko added, “We believe that if the penalties are punitive enough it will discourage those unscrupulous people from setting up fuel stations in unauthorized places. We all remember the events that happened at Atomic Hatso and the panic is set in the whole system. We are trying so well to ensure that we minimize those incidents.”
