Former Greater Accra Regional Minister Henry Quartey has attributed the June 3, 2015 disaster to a combination of public indiscipline and political interference in urban planning and development.
Speaking about the tragic event, which claimed over 150 lives in Accra after a deadly flood and explosion at a GOIL fuel station, on Channel One TV‘s The Point of View on Wednesday June 4, Quartey stressed that Ghana’s inability to prevent such disasters is often rooted in political expediency and a disregard for standards.
“One is indiscipline. The other one is when you add the lack of planning, standards and things—it’s politics, and that is a fact,” he said.
He further criticised the influence of politicians on regulatory institutions, suggesting that technical officers often know what steps to take to improve safety and urban management, but are held back by political calculations.
“The man at Land Use and Spatial Planning knows what to do, but the politician thinks, ‘No, if you do this, I won’t win elections.’ I mean, let’s call a spade a spade. That is what to do,” Quartey added.
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