By Donstance Koroma
During the recent parliamentary approval session for the Director General of the National Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NPRA), Brima Baluwa Koroma, Members of Parliament from the ruling SLPP commended him for the notable transformation he has brought to the institution in a relatively short time.
However, while acknowledging his progress, lawmakers raised urgent concerns over the growing risk of fuel-related disasters, including the potential for deadly explosions. They called on Baluwa Koroma to take immediate and decisive action to mitigate these threats.
Key among their concerns was the proximity of fuel stations to residential buildings and the limited space on which many stations are built often with no proper access routes for emergency response. MPs urged the NPRA to carry out thorough due diligence before issuing licenses to fuel dealers and called for more regular safety and compliance inspections at gas stations nationwide.
Their warnings were reinforced by findings in a February 2025 performance audit report released by the Audit Service Sierra Leone on the disaster risk reduction activities of the National Disaster Management Agency (NDMA).
According to the report, the Sierra Leone Petroleum Terminal the nation’s main fuel storage facility poses a serious safety threat due to unregulated human settlement. Shanty houses have been erected around the facility’s perimeter fence, increasing the risk of fire and explosion.
The audit attributes this dangerous development to the absence of enforceable building codes and inadequate urban planning, faults largely linked to the Ministry of Lands, Housing and Country Planning, the construction of makeshift housing around the petroleum terminal poses a major disaster risk not just for the immediate vicinity, but for the entire city,” the report warned.
In a separate interview with the audit team, the Director of Risk Reduction and Preparedness confirmed that joint inspections had previously been conducted by his office in collaboration with the NPRA to assess fire and environmental safety at fuel stations across the country.
The Director admitted that several filling stations were constructed on undersized plots of land, dangerously close to residential areas, significantly increasing the likelihood of disaster. He stressed that this issue warrants urgent regulatory and enforcement action.
The Auditor-General, Abdul Aziz, in his executive summary, emphasized the broader implications of disaster vulnerability in Sierra Leone. He noted that building disaster resilience is crucial to eradicating extreme poverty, as disasters disproportionately affect the poor and vulnerable, reversing years of development gains.
Disasters not only deepen poverty but also intensify economic and social vulnerabilities that obstruct sustainable development, he stated. As Sierra Leone continues to urbanize rapidly, the calls for proactive regulation, community safety, and urban planning reform have never been more urgent, the potential cost of inaction could be catastrophic both in human lives and in national development.
Copyright –Published in Expo Times News on Wednesday,16th July, 2025 (ExpoTimes News – Expo Media Group (expomediasl.com)
