By Kenfrey Kiberenge

The Government has hinted at a plan to set guidelines for restaurants situated at or next to petrol stations.

The facilities have been branded disasters in waiting because of the dangers they pose to revellers in case of fire outbreaks.

Revellers to the petrol stations-cum-restaurants park their cars around as others smoke carelessly. Other facilities also have nyama choma (barbecue) that use naked fire.

The danger posed by the clubs is amplified by presence of thousands of litres of inflammable petroleum products in underground tanks and liquefied cooking gases at the petrol stations. The risk cannot be overestimated.

Chief Public Health Officer Kepha Ombacho, who termed the bars a time bomb, says the Government would soon crack the whip. "Up to now we have not had a fire outbreak case but in the event of any the effects would be insurmountable," says Ombacho.

Sam Ikwaye, the executive officer of Pubs, Entertainment and Restaurants Association of Kenya blamed bar owners for risking the lives of revellers. "These bars should not have been licensed in the first place. Petrol stations and bars should not operate together," says Ikwaye.

With memories of last year’s inferno at Nakumatt Downtown still fresh in our minds, the Government should not take chances by allowing clubs to operate around petrol stations.

The Government, in a reactionary move, issued a circular demanding all supermarket chains to have an outer compartment for cooking gas cylinders, which were believed to have intensified the Nakumatt fire.

A time bomb

Now city petrol stations are being converted into bars and nightclubs.

Fred Mutisya, the managing director of one of the said spots, Club Eden (formerly Kengeles) in Nairobi West, agrees the facilities are a time bomb. He argues while the management of such clubs leave nothing to chance in preventing fires, they can never be "100 per cent sure a fire cannot break".

Top in the list of such clubs, which was a culprit of inferno last year, is Rafikis along Lang’ata Road. It is located next to a petrol station. Fortunately the petrol station did not have a bar or restaurant then but an eatery. Ombacho says had there been a club, many people would have died.

The list of entertainment spots at or near petrol stations include Florida Club and Kengeles along Koinange Street, and Club Eden and Kengeles in Lavington. Oilibya (Westlands and Bellevue) and Choma Zone on Thika Road and another on Mombasa Road also have petrol stations inside their compounds.

Though the Government and some of the business owners agree the situation could be a disaster in waiting, some revellers are ignorant.

Sam Oduor feels safe in such bars. "Take a bar like Florida along Koinange Street, it has been around for as long as I can remember and it has never burnt," he argues.

In other countries that have experienced fires at nightclubs, there has been many fatalities as most of the victims are caught in the accidents either too drunk to escape or the flames engulfed the places fast.

Mutisya says one side of his club is an open area, which serves as a fire exit. Some of the fireproofing measures Mutisya’s club has taken include prohibiting smoking near fuel pumps and ensuring its kitchens are completely enclosed, he says.

Blacklisting

Ikwaye proposes that clubs operating near petrol stations be blacklisted and business permits revoked. He says revellers should also be advised to shun them.

But Nicholas Ndunda, in-charge of Liquor Registry at the Office of Nairobi PC, defends the clubs, saying they operate within stipulated guidelines. "There are smoking areas which should never be designated next to the fuel pumps," he says. He adds that his department has not yet received complaints and will only ‘act’ when such a grievance is lodged.

But Ombacho says his ministry is developing a circular to specify the safety measures to be taken on this issue. "What you (The Standard on Sunday) have done is go ahead of us because this has been a major concern at the ministry," explains Ombacho.

The guidelines would ban use of naked fires, including smoking and barbecue, in such pubs.