The Minister for Environment, Science, Technology and Innovation, Mahama Ayariga, has admitted that key state agencies have failed the nation.
According to the former Sports Minister, several government institutions tasked to ensure that Ghana is managed effectively have all failed.
“There is an institution failure across board…from Metropolitan and District Assemblies to Town & Country Planning Department to Fire Service Department to EPA to Ministerial levels. We’ve all slept on the job,” Ayariga told Fiifi Banson on Anopa Kasapa on Kasapa 102.3 FM.
Ayariga, together with officials from the Environmental Protection Agency are touring several fuel stations in the capital to verify their permits and compliance with environmental best practices.
The move comes after over a 100 people lost their lives in the flood and fire disaster at the Kwame Nkrumah Circle last Wednesday.
According to Ayariga, their checks have revealed that several fuel stations across the capital have no permits or were engaged in other businesses that are not permissible by law.
Oh yes you are so right Minister, I have personally experienced some of the failures. The EPA is only one such failure. May I suggest that the Police take a more active role in policing pollution and potentially dangerous situations. It seems the laws are in place for the Police to take action. The EPA needs to admit its failures and hand over part of its budget to the Police!