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NewsDay

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Fuel hoarding — a disaster waiting to happen

Opinion & Analysis
Two incidents involving recklessness around fuel resulted in the destruction of property worth thousands of dollars in Bulawayo this week.

Two incidents involving recklessness around fuel resulted in the destruction of property worth thousands of dollars in Bulawayo this week.

NewsDay Editorial

On Tuesday an Emganwini house was gutted when fuel stocked there  caught fire. Barely 48 hours later an inferno destroyed two fuel tankers at a garage in the same city.

The two incidents are a result of the recklessness with which fuel is handled in many instances in this country.

At the Emganwini house 41 drums of fuel are said to have been there while eyewitnesses say the fire at the filling station was ignited by welding activities taking place as the tankers were offloading fuel.

It was fortunate that no lives were lost, but these incidents should be a serious warning to the nation and the powers-that-be.

How do we have a situation where someone can illegally stash 41 drums of fuel at their house? And how is it that people are allowed to carry out welding activities when a fuel tanker is offloading fuel at a filling station?

Such incidents point to two things: Ignorance and arrogance on the part of the public and a lethargic approach by those who should enforce safety standards with regard to dangerous substances such as fuel.

We have seen people purchasing fuel such as paraffin, diesel and petrol using plastic containers, endangering not only themselves, but those around them. We have witnessed people engaging in dangerous activities like freely smoking around filling stations.

But what has become more dangerous are the makeshift filling stations that have sprouted around the country and cooking gas filling points that are found everywhere especially in high-density areas.

Authorities should not pretend that they are unaware of such dangerous activities for these pseudo-filling stations advertise their illegal activities clearly through signposts and classified columns in newspapers.

Why should we wait for a major disaster before action is taken? All illegal activities involving fuel should be stopped forthwith.

We have laws in this country that prohibit illegal activities outlined above and there is no reason why they should not be applied to avoid the destruction of property and loss of innocent lives. We should take the two Bulawayo incidents as enough warnings if we want to avert disaster.