[ 2017-10-11 ]

Mahama Ayariga

Mansco Gas must compensate explosion victims – Mahama Ayariga
The Chairman of Parliament’s Subsidiary
Legislation Committee, Mahama Ayariga, wants the
owners of the Mansco Gas Station to be compelled
to pay compensation and foot the medical bills of
the victims of the Atomic Junction gas explosion.


According to him, such an action, if backed by a
court order would serve as a deterrent to
operators of such Liquefied Petroleum Gas refill
points not to compromise on safety regulations
and standards.

The Former Environment Minister’s comments
follow the explosion on Saturday that has so far
claimed seven lives, and rekindled conversations
about safety and the possible complicity of
stakeholders in fuel distribution.

Speaking to Citi News, Mahama Ayariga indicated
that, victims should consider taking legal action
against the owners of the gas depot.
He reminded that, there were legal remedies
available and “said [a class action lawsuit] was
one of the things that needed to happen.”

After some major explosions in the past, the
government has stepped in to foot medical bills of
victims and sometimes paid for funeral costs.
But Mr. Ayariga believes the government’s
intervention allows the companies involved in
these accidents of the hook.

“Very often, after all the talking, that
doesn’t happen so facility owners who have
caused such damage get away with it. There is no
reason why our tax money should be used to pay
compensation to those who suffer injury as a
result of this accident.”

He added that the person who caused the accident
and the insurance companies “should also feel it
a bit by being held accountable so that next time
insurance companies will increase the premium, and
then if the person loses his property in an effort
to pay compensation and damages, he will be more
stringent with his managers.”

LPG distributors shift blame

The LPG Marketing Companies Association of Ghana,
has tried to downplay concerns that LPG stations
are slowly becoming death traps amid calls for the
cessation of on-site dispensing of LPG, and the
expected Cylinder Re-circulation module.

A spokesperson for the LPG Marketing Companies
dismissed these assertions and attributed
Saturday’s incident to a failure by the
attendants at the gas station to use the electric
discharge pumps which had been put in place for
the dispensing of gas into the Bulk Road Vehicles
(BRVs).

However, the Fire Service is yet to conclude
investigations into the explosion to ascertain the
exact cause.

Source - citifmonline.com

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