The commissioning of some newly constructed tank farms is being stalled following recent directives banning construction of new tank farms in Lagos and directing all fresh constructions to be moved out of the city.
Some of these new tank farms which are located at the Kirikiri axis of Apapa have been generally criticized in the past by residents of the area as being too close to residential areas.
Some of the affected tank farms that have been completed and fully installed and awaiting commission for some months include: Bovas petroleum, Swift oil, Index oil and Fatgbems.
Sources close to one of the tank farms who spoke with Shipping Position Weekly under anonymity disclosed that “everything that needs to be installed here has been done, we are set for operations but government is saying that we cannot because of some requirements which they have listed like the issue of the access road”.
He argued that the department of petroleum resources (DPR) ought to have seen the area as being residential before giving the approval to these tank farms, adding that: “the whole thing is wrong because there is a regulatory body including DPR and the NPA which gives the approval before the facilities are constructed, they knew then about the access roads, but they gave the go ahead”.
“Depot construction is not a child’s play, it costs billions of naira before it can be built and after all the money that have been spent, government is now coming to say that they cannot start operation, it is wrong”, another source lamented.
Meanwhile, one of the oldest tank farms in Apapa has acquired two plots of land which will serve as the company’s truck terminal.
Authoritative source within the company told Shipping Position Weekly that about N3.2 million is estimated to be required to fill the land which is a swampy one.
The new plot will also serve as a base for the petroleum tanker drivers union.
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