The Ghana National Fire Service has reiterated the need for the public to stop syphoning fuel from tankers involved in accidents since such practice puts their lives in danger.
Mr Desmond E. Ackah, Divisional Officer II (DOII) Head of Public Relations, indicated that although syphoning fuel from tankers that are involved in accidents is very common, it has several dangers associated with it.
He stated that such an act is dangerous because once a tanker is already in distress, there is the tendency to easily catch fire due to the highly flammable content in it.
Speaking in an interview on Nyankonton Mu Nsem on Rainbow Radio 87.5FM, he stated that the GNFS has embarked on several campaigns and public activities raising awareness over these things; however, the Ghanaian public seem not to listen.
He explained that the Service will continue to educate the Ghanaian public on the need to avoid syphoning fuel from tankers involved in accidents; however, they may be forced to take punitive actions against those who engage in that.
“Inhaling the highly combustible substance which could harm the respiratory system of those who syphon the fuel. The tanker could also easily cause a secondary explosion. A lot of those who do this are ignorant, and there is a need to scale up education on the hazards of such practices.
The practice is not good, and for how long should we continue to allow that to happen? We should value our safety and life more than a gallon of fuel we will syphon from tankers involved in accidents.”
When asked specifically why the Service has not applied sanctions or enforced the Akwatia against such acts, he stressed, “Before you ensure strict enforcement of the laws, you should embark on a lot of safety and sensitisation programmes so you can educate the people on the dangers associated with what they do.”
As GNFS, before strictly enforcing the laws, we want to educate the people, and that is what we have done over the past 60 years. However, there are several people who are ignorant or proving stubborn. We will continue to educate the people, but let me state also that we will soon start enforcing the law strictly, and when we start doing that, we don’t want those affected to start calling their elders and politicians to come and interfere with the enforcement. We will not entertain that.”
By: Rainbowradioonline.com/Ghana
