DPR Shuts 85 Gas Plants For Illegal Operations

The Lagos State Zonal Office of the Department of Petroleum Resources, has shut down 85 illegal gas plants in the state.

The Zonal Operations Controller, Ayorinde Cardoso, disclosed this during a sensitisation campaign on safe handling of Liquefied Petroleum Gas, (Cooking gas).

According to him, there had been concerted effort by all stakeholders including the Lagos State Government to stamp out illegal gas business in the state in order to curb gas explosions.

He said, “The major infractions that we have seen are product diversion, unauthorised decanting and illegal construction of plants.

“From our experience, we have seen that most of the accidents occurred in the illegal plants. This year, we have shut down about 85 illegal plants, and this is something we do on a continuous basis.”

Noting the efforts of the Department to improve on regulatory activities and statutory requirements around the trade, Cardoso decried that some traders were engaged in wrong practices in the sales of gas,

“We are encouraging everybody who wants to invest in that sector to go through the right channels. You apply, go through the guidelines and follow the steps.

“We will not allow illegal facilities to operate. Right now, we are collaborating with a lot of stakeholders including the Lagos State Government to eradicate all the illegal plants. We have so many of those illegal plants and we are taking them out one by one, he added.

Speaking further, he explained that the main purpose of the campaign was to improve the acceptability of LPG and enhance safety awareness in the state.