Tank Farm Owners Call For Relocation Of Residents Near Tank Farms

The Jetty and Petroleum Tank Farm Owners of Nigeria (JEPTFON) yesterday called for relocation of all residents near tank farms in Lagos.
JEPTFON Executive Secretary, Mr Enoch Karnawa, made the call in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos.
Karnawa spoke against the backdrop of an explosion at a tank farm at Tin Can Island on January 8, 2013.
Governor Babatunde Fashola of Lagos State had said that the state government would collaborate with the Federal Government to relocate the jetties.

The Jetty and Petroleum Tank Farm Owners of Nigeria (JEPTFON) yesterday called for relocation of all residents near tank farms in Lagos.
JEPTFON Executive Secretary, Mr Enoch Karnawa, made the call in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos.
Karnawa spoke against the backdrop of an explosion at a tank farm at Tin Can Island on January 8, 2013.
Governor Babatunde Fashola of Lagos State had said that the state government would collaborate with the Federal Government to relocate the jetties.
He alleged that the explosion occurred due to poor planning and absence of maritime safety standards at the jetties.
Karnawa, however, said that relocation of the jetties would be a Herculean task and that the tank farms had economic advantages.
“The tank farms have other roles to play apart from supplying products. They generate employment and also pay taxes to the state government,” he said.
Karnawa said it was easier to relocate the residents near the tank farms than to relocate the tank farms.
“The government should relocate the residential houses and not the tank farms because the tank farms are capital intensive.
“It is easier to relocate the residential houses because the investments in them are not as much as that of the tank farms.
“In actual fact, the tank farms are always located by the seaside, apart from the ones at Apapa, to ensure access to ships bringing in petroleum products,” Karnawa said.
An an explosion occurred at a tank farm at Tin-Can Island Port on January 8 when a barge carrying petroleum product was trying to discharge its cargo at the MRS Jetty.