FOR THE second time since the start of this year another "illegal gas station" has gone up in flames. Mercifully no lives were lost but the damage to property has been put at in the region of $30 million, with a house and two motor vehicles destroyed.
This illegal operation was in a residential, becoming commercial area off Hagley Park Road and is said to have been in operation for about 10 years.
In January when another illegal gas station operation blew up in Greenwich Town the police claimed that they had been trying to close it down, without success, because influential persons in the society were connected to it. The police made the equally alarming claim that other illegal gas station operations exist throughout the Corporate Area.
This is understandable, what with the proliferation of motor vehicles and the cheaper prices available through these illicit operations. As we understand it, in some instances prices are as much as $3 per litre below the lowest price charged by the legal petroleum stations.
After the illegal operation in Greenwich Town caught fire in January Petrojam disputed a police claim that it had not cooperated in helping to stamp out this illicit trafficking. In fact, Petrojam said, it "maintains security and recorded electronic surveillance of all its loading areas as a deterrent to any illegal activities."
Nonetheless, the illegal practice persists and it must involve collusion at some point between the oil refinery and the gas stations which receive supplies for public consumption.
At some point this corruption must stop. We should not have to wait for deaths and major destruction of property in another illegal gas station fire.
The opinions on this page, except for the above, do not necessarily reflect the views of The Gleaner.
