Chronicle Editor
Sikhulekelani Moyo, [email protected]
THERE is an urgent need for strict monitoring and regularisation of operations at fuel service station premises that were once used as private entities but now service the broader public.
Last week, a petrol storage tank exploded resulting in a raging fire that reduced several vehicles to shells at a fuel storage depot in Kelvin West industrial area in Bulawayo.
Consumer Council of Zimbabwe (CCZ) Matabeleland region manager Mr Comfort Muchekeza said some service stations now pose a danger as the properties are not worth serving the public as they lack proper safety measures.
“We believe it is time that these service stations should regularise their operations. It’s either by way of renovating the premises such that they are meant for public services or they resort back to commercial use,” he said.
“We want to call upon the authorities, city council, Zimbabwe Energy Regulatory Authority and Environmental Management Agency and even all industry players to prevent the damage which might be caused by the continuous use of such premises,”
He expressed concern at the number of recent business premises that have been destroyed or damaged by fire.
Last week, more than 300 SMEs lost their wares worth thousands of dollars when a flea market, popularly known as the “Little Musina” is situated along Lobengula Street between 8th Avenue Extension and Leopold Takawira went up in smoke.
According to the Bulawayo Fire Brigade, the fire was caused by an electric appliance that was left unattended.
A fortnight ago, another flea Market in Bulawayo, Pan Jap, was also reduced to ashes after two unknown men threw a suspected petrol bomb into the premises razing all the property that was stored in the premises.
In January, a small-scale furniture manufacturing site in Mpopoma popularly known as Espamprikeni also burnt down in a suspected electrical fault that triggered the fire.
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