By: Mohamed Jalloh
Retired Lt General David Taluva, the Minister of Internal Affairs, has resolved to evict squatters at the fuel terminal in Kissy, located in the eastern part of the capital city, Freetown. This decision was announced during a meeting at his Gloucester Street office on Tuesday, January 16, 2024. The gathering included stakeholders such as the Petroleum Regulatory Agency, as well as companies like Leone Oil, Petroleum Jetty, Conex, and National Petroleum, which have storage facilities at the Kissy terminal.
The Minister stated that the resolution, which will be presented to the cabinet for further deliberations and approval, aims to ensure safety within the storage facilities and the surrounding environment. The presence of people residing within these facilities poses a significant risk, as activities like cooking beneath storage facilities and conveyor pipes increase the potential for fire disasters that could impact the Kissy and Wellington communities.
The decision is influenced by the lessons learned from a previous fire disaster at a fuel depot in Guinea, Conakry. Sierra Leone is taking proactive measures to prevent a similar occurrence, especially as the Guineans are now utilizing the Kissy fuel depot for transporting fuel, thereby increasing the frequency and associated risks.
The Minister emphasized the hazardous conditions created by people selling cookery, roasting corn, and cassava along the route from the terminal to Bai Bureh road, where fuel tankers transport fuel to stations. The eviction will involve dismantling over 100 makeshift houses, excluding those housing displaced people. Despite the eviction, efforts will be made to handle the situation compassionately by compensating those who have been residing in the area for decades.
To prevent squatters from returning, a security post will be constructed around the area. Some squatters even built houses on top of conveyor pipes to facilitate easy access for siphoning fuel, leading to incidents like the fuel tapping theft that caused a fire disaster at Conex facilities in 2018, resulting in a loss of resources amounting to 1 million dollars.
In addition to the eviction, plans include the construction of a fire station at the Kissy terminal, dedicated to responding to any fire disaster. The government has contracted a British-based company to work with the fire force in providing fireballs for extinguishing potential fires. The Minister directed the petroleum regulatory agency to collaborate with oil marketing companies in raising funds to compensate squatters, ensuring the safety of facilities and oil resources from both thieves and potential fire disasters.