Owners and managers of filling stations in the Upper East Region have been given a month ultimatum to clear all parked vehicles at their premises.
National Director of Operations for Ghana National Fire Service, Deputy Chief Fire Officer (DCFO), Kweku Manu Afful gave this directive when he inspected some filling stations in the Bolgatanga Municipality as part of measures to avert disasters at the stations.
DCFO Afful, observed that some filling stations have turned their premises into bus terminals while some operate mechanic shops. A situation he says has a tendency of causing fire outbreaks since the vehicles emits gas which is highly inflammable.
“Most of the filling stations I have visited this morning have vehicles parked around them and in case there is serious fire outbreak, the whole place and the vehicles are going to burn.” He stated.
DCFO Afful warned stating that “the next time we come around, within a month and the vehicles are parked there at the stations, we are going to recommend for them to be closed down.”
The fire services national director of operations who also inspected some flood prone areas in the municipality admonished authorities of the assembly to ensure structures located on water ways are demolished to avert possible flooding.
Deputy Upper East Regional Director of National Disaster Management Organization (NADMO) in-charge of Operations, Paul Wooma, said the organization is embarking on sensitization exercise on disaster management across the region to curb possible flooding.
Every year, areas such as Dagweo, Pobaga, Sawaba and parts of Zongo in the Bolgatanga municipality experience flooding. Mr. Wooma who described the causes of the perennial flooding as an engineering defect entreated urban roads to consider constructing large drainage systems to contain the large volume of water that run through the drains during rainy season.
