Residents of barangay Langtad in Naga City in Cebu are calling on the city government to temporarily suspend the “illegal” operations of a liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) terminal plant near their area due to its lack of certification for fire safety.
Lawyer Julius Ceasar Entise said concerned residents wrote Naga City Mayor Val Chiong to request help as residents fear for their safety due to the proximity of the plant to their homes.
“Help us on our predicament. Please do not issue a business permit to these violators of the law thinking only of business interests without due regard of the consequences their reckless disregard of the law may befall on ordinary people,” stated the residents letter to Mayor Chiong.
The residents also sent a separate letter to Bureau of Fire Protection regional director, Senior Supt. Ma. Luisa Hadjula, asking her to order the shut down of the Petronas LPG facility.
Entise who represented the residents in the Provincial Board (PB) probe on fire safety concerns raised by residents against the Petronas LPG
Terminal in sitio Mohon, barangay Langtad, said the city government should stop the ongoing operations of the LPG plant whose above ground spherical tanks have a combined capacity of 2.27 million liters.
“We are asking for the suspension of their operations until such time that they secure the fire. This is for accountability. If something happens in the area, someone must be held responsible,” he told reporters at the Capitol.
Yesterday, around 25 residents from Langtad attended the session of the PB. Officials of the BFP in Naga were also present to answer questions.
The residents sought the help of Cebu 1st District Boardmember Raul Alcoseba after their inquiry on the legality of the operations of the plant was allegedly ignored by fire officials in the city.
Former chief of the Naga City fire department Joel Abarquez who issued the Fire Safety Inspection Certificate (FSIC) of the Petronas plant last year told the PB that the temporary FSIC expired Dec. 31 last year and no longer renewed because of a complaint lodged by another LPG dealer, Pryce Gas.
“There is no decision yet as to the appeal of Pryce Gas in the national level. The plant is still in operation,” said Abarquez who now heads the fire department of Mandaue.
But Entise said the mere fact that the LPG plant has no FSIC is enough reason for BFP to order the shutting down of the facility. He added that as a government agency, the BFP should be sensitive to the concerns of ordinary citizens.
In their letter to Hadjula, the residents said that “Despite the non-issuance of the Fire Safety Inspection Certificate, the LPG Plant of Petronas in Barangay Langtad still continues to operate in reckless disregard of the law.
Since last year, residents have complained separately that the LPG tanks are located very close to the adjoining facilities and they fear for their safety.
Leo Genodiala, one of the complainants said that the plant has not ceased operation eversince. In fact, it had fresh shipments of LPG twice last month. He appealed to the BFP and the provincial government to look into the matter as thousands of residents living near the plant are exposed to extremely high fire hazard.
Petronas admits that that their tanks are 65 meters away from adjoining properties, but assured that they have state of the art fire prevention and fire fighting equipments.
Under the law, LPG containers with capacity of more than 378,500 liters should be constructed at least 122 meters from the perimeter line of the adjoining property.
Petronas has completed construction of its LPG storage and receiving tanks in Naga City last year.