MADINAH, 20 October 2004 — Residents of Madinah are looking with concern at the spread of cooking gas outlets in residential areas. Many feel that it is a disaster waiting to happen with the outlets springing up next to residential houses.
Some of the outlets have set up shop next to houses with just a wall separating them. In addition to the degree of danger the proximity of these outlets lends to the people, it also is a source of biohazard with many residents complaining of noxious fumes that have affected their health.
A survey by Arab News of some of these neighborhoods revealed that workers who are not aware of the basic safety measures man most of these outlets. Some of them do not have enough fire extinguishers. And the number of fire extinguishers varied in different outlets. In some places, Arab News found 20 fire extinguishers while in others there were five fire extinguishers. At a given time these places have over 300 cylinders inside. The residents feel insecure with these inadequate safety measures and many feel that these outlets should be housed in special areas at a particular place away from residential areas.
A resident, Riyadh Al-Malki said: “I have been living in the neighborhood for 11 years before an outlet selling these cylinders opened in the area. This is a source of great concern among many of the residents here. I think they should move these outlets away to the edge of the city, to a place that is designed for them, just like car repair shops. How can you sleep in comfort knowing that a cooking gas outlet is just meters away from your home and run by inexperienced workers?”
Matouq Al-Juhani said, “It is a ticking bomb inside our neighborhoods waiting to explode if anything goes slightly wrong. My neighbor moved from this area to Al-Duaitha, west of Madinah, because he did not feel safe living close to a cooking gas outlet. We as residents are not overreacting. All you need to do is pay a visit to one of these places to know that it is run by workers who know nothing about safety or how to react if there was a fire. Such places should have automatic fire extinguishing system that is activated if there was smoke. The two alternatives we have are either these outlets move out of the neighborhood or we move out.”
Awad Al-Haisuni said: “Bad smells come from these places, especially when workers are in the process of filling the small gas cylinders. My concern is, what if someone smoking happens to throw a cigarette butt near the place. It could trigger a big explosion. Do these workers have proper training on how to react if there was a fire? I think the municipality and the fire department is to blame in this problem. This is an accident waiting to happen and I think they should do something about it before something bad happens.”
Another resident was of the view that in addition to these outlets their service of providing cylinders to people on call is also hazardous. Abdulrahman Naji said, “These places are dangerous and in addition they deliver the cylinders to people at their homes. The bright red pick-up carries a load of cylinders and they are a moving hazard on the roads. What would happen if these cars laden with these cylinders were involved in an accident? Why does the traffic department not stop these cars from going inside neighborhoods? I think these outlets are licensed to sell the cylinders at the outlets only and not have their own delivery system. Are they licensed to carry gas and sell it somewhere else? I don’t think so.”
