Fire ravaged Kumasi fuel station had no permit - EPA

It has emerged that the fuel station at Agric Kokode in the Ashanti Regional capital Kumasi which caught fire and resulted in the fiery deaths of two children on Sunday had no permit to operate.

Isaac Osei, Ashanti Regional Director of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), a body tasked to issue licences to such operators, told Joy News the Agency’s investigation into the inferno has revealed that the station was operating without an environmental permit.

The station was also operating on a “disputed land”, which Mr. Osei said used to house the defunct Bank for Housing and Construction.

The fire, which also destroyed some houses and other properties was sparked when fuel started to leak from a tanker that was discharging at the filling station sited close to the house of the children who died.

This fuel station, Mr. Osei described as a Gao Gao type of station that uses a hand pump and usually operated by Malians. There is a nationwide campaign to get such stations upgraded to standard filling stations or risk being closed down.

“Clearly it is an illegal operation,” Mr. Osei said of the burnt station. Authorities are yet to trace the owner of the station.

He expressed his condolence to the bereaved family.

Meanwhile, the Public Relations Officer of Kumasi Metropolitan Assembly, Godwin Okumah Nyame told Luv News' Prince Appiah that his office is waiting for reports from the National Fire Service, NADMO, National Petroleum Authority and EPA to take the appropriate measures in order to avoid future occurrences.

Story by Ghana | Myjoyonline.com| Isaac Essel | [email protected] | twitter @isaacessel