Tension is mounting at Ahwiaa, a community in the Kwabre East District, popular for its thriving wood carving industry, over the siting of a filling station.
The people are threatening to stop the construction of the project because of the environmental danger and the threat to their safety.
They claim the station, which is being built by one Maame Nyarko, is too close to a market and the local basic school, and insist that it is re-located to a safer place.
They had already petitioned the District Assembly to step in to ensure that the right things were done to stave off trouble.
Mr. Vasco Brenya, the immediate-past assembly member, told the Ghana News Agency (GNA), that there was no way they would allow the project to go ahead.
Their checks at the Ghana National Petroleum Council (GNPC) showed that no permit had been granted for its construction, given its closeness to the school and market.
He said there had been moves by the District Chief Executive (DCE), Alhaji Iddisa Adams, to halt the project but the developer appeared not ready to abandon the work.
He alleged that an order by the DCE that it was stopped until further notice, had been ignored, as the owner and her workers continued to work on it in the night.
He said the people were running out of patience and might have no other option than pull down the structure.
�If the appropriate authorities do not act quickly, we will have no option, but to act ourselves to bring sanity,� he added.
When contacted, an official at the Ashanti Regional Office of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) confirmed the matter had been reported to the Agency, and said a team of field officers had been detailed to assess and report on the suitability or otherwise of the site.
That would inform the line of action the EPA took, he stated.
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