Mini-petrol stations replacing illegal fuel stalls in Benin

The first batch of mini-petrol stations the Beninese government bought to replace illegal streetside petrol stalls at risk of fires have been put into operation in Cotonou, Benin.

In several districts of Cotonou, these mini-petrol stations now serve petrol to road users, particularly motorists and certain vehicles.

“The mini-petrol stations make it possible to store and distribute petrol more safely, instead of using petrol stalls.

“Petrol stalls are a source of fires,” Fortune Agbo, manager of a mini-petrol station in Fifadji, a populous district of Cotonou said.

On Sept. 23, a fire at an illegal petrol warehouse in Seme Krake, a town on the border with Nigeria, killed 35 people and seriously injured dozens.

Since the tragedy, the issue of petrol smuggling has become a more pressing and burning problem for the country.

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The Beninese government deployed the mini-stations as a measure to reorganise the informal sector of petroleum product sales.

At a recent press conference, in Cotonou, Benin government spokesman, Wilfried Houngbedji said the country bought more than 5,000 mini-petrol stations to prevent illegal trade in urban areas.

For now, the government has put 2,000 out of the 5,000 mini-petrol stations to use.

“These mini-petrol stations will make it possible to cover at least the five major towns in the country’s south,” said the spokesman.

When the rest of the orders arrive, he said, the government would put them in every town in the country (Xinhua)