Petrol tapping fuels fears in Mukuru Sinai

By JAMES MWANGI

Illegal siphoning of fuel combined with roadside cooking have raised fears of a possible disaster at Nairobi’s Industrial areas.

The fuel-tapping business is carried out by men from Mukuru Sinai slums to get quick cash, not aware of the danger they are putting themselves in.

Hundreds of untidy men, some drunken, hang around the area waiting for the empty tankers coming for the fuels.

Recklessly, some smoking cigarettes, they scramble for the flammable fluid without the drivers’ consent. Right near the tankers, some open cooking takes place.

Following the Sinai fuel fire tragedy of 2011, oil dealers on Nanyuki road have distanced the over 200 tankers away from parking lot along the road, but there are fears the illegal fuel siphoning deals are a time bomb.

Nearby depots stock thousands of litres of flammable fuel and highly explosive gases.

A senior safety officer in one of the firms said the illicit business has become a problem to their operations. 

One man engaged in the illicit trade said: “I have been in this business for over two decades and no accident has ever occurred. How do you tell me this is risky?”

Close sources said drivers collaborate with the gangs to suck the fuel remnants and sell them cheaply on their behalf or sometimes as pay for washing the tankers. Failure to do this, the gang obstructs the tanker from running business there and can even put it ablaze.

The fuel remnants are sold cheaply to city boda boda operators.

Reportedly, a committee constituted by oil firms has not found a lasting solution to this problem.