NAIROBI, Kenya, Mar 4 — Residents of Obunga and Kanyamedha in Kisumu defied police orders on Friday as they proceeded to siphon fuel with reckless abandon after a pipeline burst in the area spilling diesel.
The pipeline owned by the Kenya Pipeline Company (KPC) raptured on Thursday night discharging its contents to the nearby estates.
Locals armed with jerrycans scooped the leaking oil oblivious of the dangers citing the high cost of living.
“I think what is driving Kenyans to resort to this desperate move is the poor state of the economy. Wananchi just don’t care about the dangers since they are now looking for ways to earn a living…
If the economy continues deteriorating like this, a person which just proceed to scoop the oil to get even 20 shillings for food for their children,” a resident, who did not reveal his name, said.
Dennis Odhiambo, another resident, blamed KPC for the incident which he attributed to laxity on their side pointing out that the Company needs to conduct regular checks and maintenance of their pipelines for the sake of the safety of those who reside near them.
Odhiambo pointed out that most of the residents were unaware of the type of the petroleum product that had spilled noting that they were lucky the fuel was not flammable.
“If this fuel was petrol, we would be looking at a different scenario including deaths but we thank God that did not happen since the fuel was Diesel,’’ he said.
Another resident, Ann Onyango, said that the moment she heard the explosion she went to the scene with jerrycans to scoop the oil thinking it was kerosene.
The incident revealed yet again that Kenyans in low-income areas are willing to risk their lives despite disastrous occurrences led to huge fires that claimed dozens of lives.
Later in the day, KPC said it had successfully contained the oil spill which was detected along the Sinendet-Kisumu pipeline at Kanyamedha area on Thursday.
KPC Managing Director Macharia Irungu said in a statement that the company’s Emergency Response Team was then dispatched to the site following the incident where emergency procedures were immediately initiated.
He called on the residents to stay away from the site to enable the KPC team undertake the repairs and minimize the dangers of the spillage.
Irungu assured the members of the public that the incident has not affected the availability of petroleum products both in the country and region.
