The Government of Central Equatoria State on Wednesday closed down 15 potentially hazardous petrol stations considered to be located in unsafe zones in Juba City.
The development follows a public outcry about the mushrooming of new petrol stations in crowded and residential areas that pose a danger to lives. Subsequently, Central Equatoria State Governor Emmanuel Adil on Monday formed a committee to review the licenses of all petrol stations in the city and flag those that do not meet the required safety standards of operation.
The crackdown was carried out by the committee headed by Angelo Day, the Central Equatoria State Security Advisor state’s security advisor.
Speaking to the press after the exercise, the state’s roads minister who is also a member of the committee, Mawa Moses, said his committee closed the 15 fuel stations based on the recommendations of another committee that carried out an assessment.
“This morning we have closed 15 petrol stations and we are going to do more. We will review the previous recommendations and make sure that if there are still other petrol stations that are also confirmed to be dangerous to the lives of our people, we will close them,” he stated. “We want to assure you that we have successfully closed 15 petrol stations today and this marks the end of our work today, the rest of our work will be planned accordingly by the committee.”
He warned the proprietors of the closed fuel stations against reopening them and advised them to go to the state secretariat if they had any queries and or complaints.
Radio Tamazuj could not independently verify how or who licensed the fuel stations that have been shut down.
Earlier this week, a petrol station in Juba’s Gumbo neighborhood burst into flames.