Africa-Press – Uganda. Authorities in Masaka District have banned the selling and storage of petrol in jerry cans at all fish landing sites in the area.
This old practice, according to local leaders, exposes residents at landing sites to fire outbreaks, which sometimes claim lives.
Traditionally, residents at landing sites sleep in wooden structures, which easily catch fire. At the same time, fishermen habitually keep petroleum fuels for their boats and also use candles, which exposes them to fire outbreaks.
The ban comes barely a week after fire gutted 10 houses at Kyamuzimba Village, killing a one-year-old toddler.
Residents blamed the incident on a cooking stove left unattended inside a house, which also had jerry cans of petrol.
Ms Topisita Lule Ssekungo, the Masaka Resident District Commissioner, said petrol should strictly be sold at gazetted fuel filling stations, not retail shops or homes.
“This is because it poses danger to human life and properties, and in that regard, selling it in plastic jerry cans is now illegal and anyone involved should be arrested,” she said in an interview on Wednesday.
Ms Ssekungo said individuals interested in dealing in petrol at various landing sites should acquire licences to do the business.
Some of the landing sites in Masaka include Lambu, Kachanga, Ddimo, Namirembe, Kaziru and Bbaale.
Last week, a group of retail fuel dealers at Lambu Landing Site stormed Ms Ssenkungo’s office complaining that the fuel business had been monopolised by Mpongo Company Ltd, the company which manages the fish landing site.
Mr Bruce Birakwate, one of the fuel dealers at Lambu Landing Site, accused Mpongo Company Ltd of selling fuel expensively because it is the sole dealer at the landing site.
“Besides, the quality of their fuel is also not good,” he said, adding: “We appeal to government to allow us continue buying our own fuel,” he added.
Ms Harriet Nasuuna, a fish dealer at Lambu Landing Site, said through Lambu Fishermen Association, they have already secured a house where they can safely keep fuel for use to avoid being “cheated by Mpongo Company Ltd”.
“We ask authorities to either allow us buy or keep our own fuel or force Mpongo to sell at normal prices,” she said.
Ms Nasuuna claimed that at the fuel pump owned by Mpongo Company Ltd, a litre of petrol is sold at Shs4,900 yet retail dealers charge Shs4,300 for the same.
However, Mr Rashid Babu, the manager of Mpongo Company Ltd, denied selling fuel exorbitantly to fishermen in the area.
“Some unscrupulous individuals are taking fuel matters personal. We all know that fuel is highly flammable and keeping it inside people’s homes is dangerous,” he said.
He said as a company managing the landing site, they will only allow fuel dealers who have capacity to construct fuel stations and ensure safety of residents and their property.
Masaka District Chairperson, Mr Lukyamuzi Batemyeto, said they will continue engaging both parties to resolve the impasse.
Other areas
The ban on selling fuel in plastic jerry cans comes nearly a year after leaders in the neigbouring island district of Kalangala said they were also considering banning the storage of petrol inside homes as one of the measures to curb rampant fire outbreaks in the area.
Mr Rajab Ssemakula, the Kalangala District chairperson, said all local leaders at various landing sites have already been tasked to identify a centralised place to keep petrol metres away from homesteads.
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