Ondo to sanction owners of unapproved filling stations

The chairman of the commission of enquiry, set up to look into thedevelopment of filling stations in Ondo State, Mr. Dare Aragbaiye, on Thursday said the establishment of many of the stations did not follow due process.

The commission is to determine whether the stations met the standard set by the relevant government agencies and to recommend appropriate sanctions against the defaulters.

Aragbaiye, who addressed journalists in Akure, particularly frowned on thelocations of many of the stations around residential homes.

According to him, the continued operations of these stations around these homes constitute a huge risk.

He said, “We have over 1,000 filling stations across the state. From our preliminary observations, we can say hundreds of them had not complied with the laid down government conditions.

“From our observations so far, it is apparent that some filling stations would have to cease operating in the areas where they are located.”

Aragbaiye added, “Our commission started meeting owners of filing stationssince Monday, and we have been telling them about our observations on the regularity or otherwise of their stations in terms of location, process of obtaining approvals and how far they were able to comply with the conditions.

“In cases where they failed to comply, we let them know our mission and we have asked them to come up with steps they want to take in order to regularise the anomalies.”

Culled: Punchng