A news report by the Daily Graphic on Wednesday says the people of Takoradi could be sitting on a time-bomb as criminals perforate a pipeline that transports fuel from the Takoradi Port to the Western Regional depot of the Tema Oil Refinery to siphon the product. According to the report, the unscrupulous individuals siphon the fuel by using saw blade to cut the pipe connecting the port and the TOR depot in Takoradi. And they do this in the still of the night when the community was asleep. The site where the nation wreckers operate is a residential zone and home to a number of churches. In the same vicinity was a makeshift slaughter house where people set fire to prepare animals for their customers. That means that should there be any leakage of fuel in the area close to the slaughter house, there could be an explosion. According to the paper, people could be seen resting on the pipeline which was just about a metre away from one of the churches. When contacted, the Depot Officer, Emmanuel Kwesi Aidoo confirmed the story and said the depot received a consignment on January 8, 2007, adding that an arrangement was being made for military protection of the pipeline. He said what the people failed to realise was that by their action they were exposing the whole community to imminent disaster should any explosion occur. According to Mr Aidoo, it was wrong to have human activities within certain distance of the pipeline, explaining that as a safety measure, the regulations insisted that structures should be located more than 30 meters away from the pipeline. He said consequently arrangements were being made for all structures close to the pipeline to be demolished. Mr Aidoo also took the opportunity to appeal to the general public to volunteer information on people who siphoned oil from the pipeline to TOR or the police. But according to investigations, the affected landowners were also preparing to resist any attempt to demolish their structures. Ghana experienced the bitterness of such blazes only two years ago when a pipeline of the Tema Oil Refinery said to have been burgled by criminals caught fire and claimed several lives. Regional neighbour Nigeria has bitter lessons of recurring fuel fires and explosions of pipelines as people tried to steal fuel. On December 26, 2006 for instance at least 200 people were killed in a blast at a pipeline as people stole petrol in the Abule Egba district of northern Lagos. An October 18, 1998 blaze that claimed the lives of at least 1,082 people at Jesse, in the southeastern state of Delta, when a pipeline exploded from the activities of criminals remains one of the deadliest. Source: Graphic