5 IDENTIFICATION EXERCISE AT FUEL AND GAS FILLING STATIONS BY THE REGIONAL MONITORING AND EVALUATION DEPARTMENT CONTINUED AT THE MFANTSEMAN MUNICIPALITY.

On 2nd March 2026, at about 0930 hours, the Central Regional NADMO Monitoring & Evaluation team led by the Regional Monitoring and Evaluation Officer- Mrs Jane Gyesiwa Adu-Sekyim, the Regional Public Relations Officer- Mr Samuel Essel Duku, Mr. Joseph Coleman- a DVG attached to the Regional EOC, the Mfantseman Municipal NADMO Deputy Director incharge of Technical & DRR- SPDCO Maria Hattum and the Municipal Disaster Officer commenced the periodic hazard identification & mapping exercise at fuel and gas filling stations within the Municipality. This was after an interaction with the Municipal Director and his staff at Saltpond.

The team visited a number of fuel stations and gas dispensing stations to inspect safety measures as well as the required documentations needed for them to operate. Safety aspects were, the citing & location of risk zones (filling stations closer to flood prone areas, closer to densely populated zone, etc), the inspection of fire extinguishers, sand boxes, first aid kits, emergency exit points and PPE’s. The legal documents which permits them to operate, such as the fire permits certificate, the NPA permit certificate, the National Insurance commission permits, the EPA permits as well as the Metro & Municipal assembly permits were also inspected accordingly.

Most of the filling stations inspected so far have adhered to the safety protocols with perfect documentations as well, especially the GOIL, Shell and Petrosol filling stations. Two (Saltpond branches) out of the four (4) Pacific fuel stations had most of their operating documents expired, no proper labelling of assembly point, expired fire extinguishers, staffs not wearing PPE’s etc and they were advised to ensure that all the needed requirements are met before the next inspection visit.

Another observation that was made was the interception of some expired soft drinks and other consumable products at two of the fuel stations Mart namely; Frimps Mart (Saltpond station) and Brent Mart (Mankesim station), the items were instructed to be taken off shelves. The officers advised the managers and/or the supervisors of the facilities whose required documents were expired to ensure they are renewed immediately whilst charging the Municipal NADMO officers to make the required follow up to find out if those recommendations have been adhered to accordingly.

In all the places visited and inspected, our NADMO officers took the opportunity to educate the fuel attendants on the benefits of using the PPE’s when attending to customers as well as the availability of the sand boxes, it’s usage and benefits.