Masaka City bans single pump fuel stations

Masaka City Council has banned single pump fuel stations in the city saying “they are not only substandard but also risk lives where they are located.”

Masaka City Council speaker Tonny Ssempijja said no new single pump filling stations are to be allowed and proprietors of existing stations have one month to shift- outside the city.

“The city workers’ committee had earlier recommended that we charge owners of single pumps Shs250,000 annually but the current city standards allow only well-established fuel stations to operate,” he told Monitor. 

An owner of a single fuel pump in Kimaanya Village, Ronald Mubiru, told this reporter that the Council’s decision threatens livelihoods. 

“It’s not true that we don’t have licenses.  We are operating legally. The Council should be ready to compensate us for losses we are likely to incur,” he said on Wednesday. 

However, another single pump owner in Gayaza Village, Henry Muyambi, said he was not aware of the Council's decision. 

“I will mobilise other single pump owners in the city to challenge such a directive in court,” he warned. 

But authorities maintain that single pump fuel stations trade adulterated fuel which affects engines. The city Council also reasoned that some illegally occupy road reserves.

“There is public concern that in case of a fire, residential houses and commercial buildings next to those single pump filling stations will be at a high risk,” Mr Ssempija noted. 

In some areas, single pumps are very close to each other yet major fuel stations are at least a kilometer or 500metres apart.

“The council position is good but they should equally regulate mushrooming established fuel stations in the city that are close to each other to avoid the same mistakes that are seen in Kampala,” Masaka City youth Councillor Rogers Buregeya urged on October 19 as he urged authorities to give single pump owners more time to plan their exit.