Personnel of the Ghana National Fire Service (GNFS) in collaboration with Officials of the National Petroleum Authority (NPA) and the Ghana Police have raided an illegal cylinder refurbishing facility at Makola in Accra and arrested seven suspects.
The suspects who were arrested through the enhanced intelligence surveillance by the Intelligence Unit of the Service were engaged in refurbishing damaged cylinders and re-introducing them onto the market for use by unsuspecting members of the public.
One Hundred and Ninety-Five cylinders ranging from 5kg to 14.5kg were ceased in the operation.
Other items retrieved in the operation which took place on Friday, September 16, 2022, were regulators, welding and spraying machines, transformers, face masks, cutting and grinding tools, paints, and other accessories.
Briefing the media, the Assistant Director of Fire Safety and Head of Intelligence Unit of GNFS DO I Michael Atto Korsah, said that investigations by the GNFS have proved that damaged but refurbished LPG cylinders are part of the major causes of many domestic and commercial fires in the country and there was the need for all Stakeholders to act decisively to clamp down on all such illegal LPG refurbishment facilities that seek to endanger lives and properties.
DO I Korsah further urged all consumers of LPG to be on the lookout for some of these substandard cylinders that have been reintroduced into the system and report to the GNFS or the Police for immediate action?
The Director of Gas at the NPA,. Akua Ntiwaa Kwakye also said “upon the Authority’s investigations, we found out that the suspects were operating without permit and certification from the appropriate authorities.”
“It is obvious they are compromising on quality for their parochial interest at the detriment of the unsuspecting consumers of gas,” she added.
Mrs. Ntiwaa noted that the Authority’s intervention was critical because the country keeps recording several domestic fires, which had claimed lives and properties, adding that, all and sundry needed to condemn these negative acts.
BY Daniel Bampoe