Labadi explosion: Gov’t attitude to accountability to blame – Senyo Hosi

A failure in the governance apparatus to hold relevant persons accountable is to blame for the Labadi explosion and other accidents resulting from a breach of safety regulations, the Chief Executive Officer of the Chamber for Bulk Oil Distributors, Senyo Hosi, has said.

Mr. Hosi attributed these failings to components of the governance structure ranging from the assembly level, Police Service, Fire Service, National Petroleum Authority and the Attorney General’s office.

He was speaking to GhanaWeb during a donation to some of the victims of the Labadi gas explosion at the 37 Military Hospital in Accra on Monday where he described the latest gas related accident to claim lives as resulting from the country’s laissez-faire attitude to safety and accountability.

The death toll from the Labadi gas explosion currently stands at 11 with over 40 victims from the explosion still receiving treatment at the 37 Military Hospital and the Korle Bu teaching hospital after sustaining various degrees of injuries.

“It is embarrassing. I think it is a major blot on the industry and also on government itself and I think we are here for only one reason. We never hold people accountable for lapses in safety,” Mr. Hosi said as he reminded that the June 3 fire and flood disaster has yet to see someone held accountable for the over 150 lives lost at the Goil fuel station at the Nkrumah Circle in Accra.

“There is no way we can absolve a company like Goil but we let them go. We refer to some cigarette and we talk about but the report is never out. We hear of it in bits and pieces.How can people's lives be lost and you will be walking free and you would continue your business as normal. Who has compensated those who died last year.”

“We have to look at the lapses. Where there lapses in monitoring? If there lapses in monitoring, who is being held accountable? If it is the owners are we going to sue them or really hold them accountable legally?” Mr. Hosi questioned.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Ghana National Fire Service have since shut down the Louis gas station at Labadi which was the scene of a gas explosion last Thursday.

Preliminary investigations have pointed to a gas leakage at the station which led to the explosion according to the Ghana National Fire Service.

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By: Delali Adogla-Bessa/citifmonline.com/Ghana