… As Mayor vows to demolish shanties near tank farm
The Mayor of Port Harcourt, Allwel Ihunda, has vowed to demolish shanties and other illegal structures close to a tank farm at the Abonema Wharf axis of the Rivers State capital.
He blamed the Friday inferno that destroyed goods and property worth several millions of naira in the area on storage of adulterated petroleum products in the shanties.
He said: “When we investigated what led to the fire, I was told that the fire started from adulterated petroleum products within illegal structures situated on the road to tank farms around the area.
“Unfortunately, the company closed to this place is Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC), and I am surprised that they have not responded.
“I have been trying to see if I can get in contact with them to find out really why they have not responded, taking into consideration that they have a facility just close to where the fire incident occurred.
“All the illegal structures around here, henceforth, will cease to exist. From Monday next week, we are going to demolish all the illegal structures on this road, because these structures are places where these products are stored that always results in fire outbreaks.”
The Commissioner for Special Duties, Mr. Emeka Onowu, said the fire was caused by the activities of persons living in the shanties.
He said: “I don’t want to victimize anyone/ But I think enough is enough. Nobody should try to blackmail anybody.
“Just look at the fire incident going on here. It will tell you that something is fishy. Look at the shanties everywhere.
“If government comes to demolish it, people will start saying the governor is a wicked man. This is a tank farm and explosion came.
“Where you have a tank farm, do you expect people to be cooking or lighting fire around that area? These are the causes of this fire because either they are using gas, firewood or light.
“But fire also is a natural disaster, so you cannot blame anybody. But this one is not a natural disaster. We are trying to handle it by the grace of God.
He commended youths in the area for assisting security agencies and firefighters to put out the inferno.
“This is not the first time that it is happening here. But this is the worst. And by Monday I don’t think we are going to have any shanty here again.”