<<Print>>

Media Practitioners have been urged to help the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to educate the management and workers of fuel and Liquefied Petroleum Gas Stations to help prevent disasters. The Regional Director of the EPA, Mr Asher Nkegbe, who made the call during a stakeholder�s forum organized by his outfit in Bolgatanga on Thursday, noted that, the active involvement of the media would help forestall possible dangers at fuel stations. Mr Nkegbe, who took the Media practitioners through the requirement in the EPA permit, said per the requirement, the Managers of the fuel and Liquefied Petroleum Gas stations were expected to ensure that they install observational walls for early detection of leakages and also provide interceptors to separate water from fuel. �Fuel and Liquefied Petroleum Gas station managers are also expected to construct concrete floor banking to prevent soil and water contamination should there be any leakage �, the Regional Director stressed. As part of the measures to ensure the effective education and monitoring of the management of the stations, the Regional Directorate of the EPA has involved some of the media personnel in the region in its monitoring taskforce group, to go round periodically with the team. Mr Nkegbe, who is also in charge of the National Focal Point of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification in Ghana, explained that, the essence of including the media personnel in the taskforce team was to ensure that the Media personnel put the managers on their toes to abide by the requirement of the permit. Mr Hamidu Abdulai, the Programme officer of EPA, said per the standards of the EPA permit, the Managers were supposed to provide entry and exit points for traffic control, waste bins and solid management at vantage points in their establishments. According to him, they were also expected to provide adequate parking space, avoid parking on public roads and provide washroom facilities at their various stations. �The Management of the stations are also to acquire permits from the District Assembly, the Fire Service, the National Petroleum Authority and the Ghana Standard Board Authority�, the programme manager indicated. The Media Practitioners took turns to ask questions on pertinent issues.