Residents of Imo have commended the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) for its efforts in ensuring availability and affordability of petroleum products during the yuletide.
Some of the residents gave the commendation while speaking with Nigeria News Agency during an end of year Media Campaign and Surveillance organized by the DPR in Owerri on Tuesday.
Mrs Viola Nnorom, a civil servant said the country used to witness increase in prices of petroleum products during Yuletide but the story was different in 2019.
“There is usually an increase in cost of transportation at this time of the year but this year is different. I thank the DPR for all measures which they must have taken to achieve this,” she said.
Mr Isaac Awa, an indigene of Rivers who resides in Owerri, was full of praise for the DPR.
“Since January, we have not experienced fuel scarcity or inflation of price both here and in my home state. The uniformity of price and highly reduced cases of under dispensing are marvelous and commendable,” he said.
Another resident, Mr Gab Anuwa rated the 2019 yuletide as the `best’ in the last few years.
His words: “I can say without a doubt that this year’s yuletide is the best in the last few years. From the rural areas to the urban areas, there is no case of filling stations locking down for lack of products.
“I thank the DPR for working hard enough to monitor supply, availability and customer satisfaction and I urge them not to relent in the year 2020,” Anuwa said.
Also speaking, Mrs Nkechi Uzor, a commuter said that the DPR had helped her save a lot of money.
According to her, she had bloated her budget for transport fares during the season only to discover that fares remained stable.
“I doubled my normal budget for transportation thinking it would be business as usual. But the efforts of the DPR have helped me save the extra”, she said.
Also, Mr Damian Ekenta, a manager with St Global Energy Ltd promised to continue complying with directives from the DPR while assuring that staff of the filling station would be adequately trained to keep abreast of best practices in the sector.
In his remark, the DPR Zonal Controller in the South East, Mr Peter Ijeh said that the department began sensitization programs in October towards ensuring products availability during the yuletide.
He added that other measures such as increase in the number of surveillance teams, increase in the number of days for surveillance and decentralization of location were also employed.
“We allowed our staff spend longer hours at work and spend the night outside the capital city of Owerri so as to begin surveillance in Orlu and Okigwe as early as 6.00am and continue until 9.00 pm to the chasm of petroleum marketers.
“We also had a constant engagement of dealers, helping them understand the value of proper dispensing, sealing defaulting fuel stations and arresting recalcitrant offenders,” he said.
On his part, the DPR Head of Engineering and Standard in Owerri, Mr Christian Daniel said that the department would not take sides with either marketers or consumers.
He however, commended petroleum marketers who were keeping up with best practices while admonishing offenders to right their wrongs so as to avoid punitive measures by the department.
NAN reports that the DPR end of year surveillance team inspected over 25 filling stations in Owerri and its environs.
News Credits : https://nnn.com.ng/
