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Residents of an Enugu neighbourhood, One-day Bus Stop along Agbani Road Enugu and its environs have called on the Enugu government to save them from a ticking time bomb that could result from clustering the bus stop with petrol and gas stations.
The bus stop is housing three functional petrol stations, one gas filling station and another petrol station under construction, which the residents see as a threat to their lives; as it could lead fire disaster if not checked.
Ogbonnaya Oji who spoke to Businessday condemned the attitude of clustering the place with highly inflammable industries close to a hotel, a Church and residential buildings.
“Locating petrol and gas stations around residential and major bus stops in Enugu metropolis, and even many cities in this country may cause untold havoc to residents one day, if not checked,” he said.
He called on the Department of Petroleum Resources ( DPR) and town planning authority to intervene; lamenting that where four fuel and gas stations were sited together couple with residential buildings was dangerous. “Petrol is highly inflammable product that should be taken far away from fire or fire igniting objects like roadside corn and pear rosters and other related items to avoid devil’s mistake,” he said.
Ogbonnaya said it was better imagined than for one to see the ugly situation experienced at the bus stop when any of the tankers caring products is discharging. Petrol tankers normally cause untold hardship for motorists, and create a gridlock with vehicles forming a long line without a single space for even pedestrians to move through.
He advocated for the type of measures taken by Enugu government to save Akanu Ibiam International Airport, where many structures and petty businesses were vacated from the airport area.
He said government should ask most of the filling stations sited within residential buildings in Enugu metropolis to relocate to Enugu- Port Harcourt expressway.
