Hass Petroleum Uganda Limited, one of the leading fuel suppliers in the country might be compelled to relocate its mass storage fuel depot at Kyengera, along the Kampala-Mbarara Road.
The depot which holds millions of liters of highly flammable gas is considered a great danger as it sits along the road and in a densely inhabited slum area.
Hass together with Mogas Fuel Company, which also has a fuel depot in an equally densely populated Banda suburb on Jinja Road, were sued by a budding legal company named Legal Care, which specializes in public interest cases.
Mogas Depot in Banda
Citing a number of catastrophic incidents on the continent and around the world where such fuel storages have exploded and killed hundreds of people, Legal Care wants the two companies to have their depots relocated to somewhere lease safer.
In the case before the Kampala High Court, Hass Petroleum last year filed an application seeking its dismissal on grounds that Legal Care was a small and young company.
In the event that it lost the case, Hass lawyers argued that Legal Care would not be in position to meet the costs. As such they asked the court that the company deposits at least Shs. 100million as “security for costs.”
This application however, has been rejected by the High Court’s Justice Lydia Mugambe who stressed that Legal Care had a good case and that Hass didn’t come off with a good Defense.
Justice Mugambe noted in her ruling on this application, that Legal Care brought up this case for community rights and that she considered the suit to be a public interest case for which sanctioning in the costs was not desirable.
She also denied the application on grounds that Hass had earlier admitted in its affidavit, that a power line, as claimed by Legal Care, was passing on top of the fuel depot in Kyengera; making it even more dangerous.
In an interview with Chimpreports, Legal Care’s Acting Executive Director, Bernard Banturaki emphasized that the two townships are on the brink and it’s only a matter of time.
Banda for instance, where the depot is situated is in a trough, he said, implying that fuel concentration there is much higher, and if fire broke out, it would be inescapable. The area is also hard to access by fire rescue vehicles.