Ghana’s petroleum downstream regulator, National Petroleum Authority (NPA), has clarified an incident that occurred at Dadieso in Ashanti Region where some irate youth of the town were captured in a viral video blocking the main road and throwing bottles on the road to make it impassable.
Media reports suggested that the irate youth were blocking the road because several calls to clear a Liquefied Petroleum Gas Tanker that had overturned in the area to avoid a possible explosion had fallen on deaf ears.
In a bid to ensure that the area was without any flammable objects or exposed to fire or exhaust fumes, the irate youth decided to block that section of the road where the accident occurred.
In a statement issued by the Corporate Affairs Department of NPA on Monday, the regulator provided details of the LPG tanker.
The NPA said the LPG tanker in question belonged to Society Nationale Burkinabe d’Hydrocarbures (SONABHY), a state-owned company responsible for fuel supply in Burkina Faso.
It said the tanker was transporting LPG to Burkina Faso when it was involved in an accident at Dadieso on the morning of Friday, May 3, 2024.
The NPA explained that the accident resulted in anxiety among residents due to the potential danger of the product, leading to demonstrations and blockade of the Accra-Kumasi trunk road by the residents.
According to the NPA, upon receipt of the information, it communicated the same to the Management of SONABHY and instructed them to dispatch an empty tanker and a pumping vehicle to evacuate the product.
The NPA said it temporarily arranged for a private company to evacuate the product.
“SONABHY’s empty tank and pumping vehicle later got to the accident scene on Saturday, May 4, 2024.
“The product has since been transferred into SONABHY’s empty tank and transported to Burkina Faso,” the NPA explained.
According to the NPA, there were no incidents leading to the loss of human lives and destruction of properties as speculated in the social media.
The NPA expressed gratitude to all who assisted in diverse ways to make the evacuation of the LPG successful.
Source: https://energynewsafrica.com