Adentan Municipal Assembly stops work on new fuel station
Officials of the Adentan Municipal Assembly have stopped construction works on a new Shell fuel dump at Ashaley Botwe in Accra, following protests from residents of the area.
Residents of Third Gate, Ashaley Botwe, have been up in arms against the siting of the fuel station in the area.
Their reason is that the area is densely populated with nine schools, various shops and apartments, for which reason it is not advisable for the project to be sited there.
The residents also argue that the area’s layout has no room for a fuel station and that the station has the potential to cause air pollution, a fire outbreak, water pollution and other associated dangers.
When the Daily Graphic visited the site last Wednesday, it was observed that the station shared common boundaries with some shops, residential apartments and schools.
A wide bunker had been constructed for the installation of the fuel dump.
An excavator was also on site to dig trenches for the project, but the operator, the foreman on site, another gentleman and the wife of the owner of the fuel station were ordered to stop work and leave the site.
The foreman attempted to justify the continuation of construction works by producing permits from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the Adentan Municipal Assembly and the Ghana National Fire Service (GNFS), but the officials did not budge.
They, accordingly, ordered the man operating the excavator to switch off the ignition.
The foreman and the wife of the owner of the project looked on in bewilderment as a huge padlock was used to lock the place up.
The Adentan Municipal Works Engineer, Mr S.Y. Akoto, led a team of municipal guards and an armed policeman to the site to stop work on the project.
Official Explanation
Explaining the rationale for the closure of the site to the Daily Graphic, the Municipal Chief Executive (MCE), Mr Benjamin Angenu, said, “We stopped work on the project because the residents had raised concerns.”
“We gave a permit to the owner to build the fuel filling station after the EPC and the GNFS had given the nod for the project to commence,” he added.
According to him, the residents petitioned his office and protested against the siting of the station in the area and he advised the residents to petition the other authorities to enable his outfit to take the necessary steps.
Meanwhile, Mr Angenu said the assembly had invited the owner of the project for a discussion on the residents’ protest but he was out of the jurisdiction and it was, therefore, waiting for him to return.
Residents Association
The Spokesperson of the Concerned Citizens Association, Mr Sebastian Senar Asem, said it was important for the project to be stopped to avert any disaster as occurred at the Kwame Nkrumah Circle on June 3, 2015.
The owner’s wife, who gave her name only as Dorothy, declined to make any comment until she sought clearance from her husband.
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