Filling Station Operators, Customers Differ On Products Hoarding

Consequent on the re
cent scarcity of petroleum products which hit parts of the country including Port Harcourt, the capital of Rivers State, some marketers and residents who spoke to our correspondent on the matter have canvassed divergent views.
Some of the filling stations visited by our correspondent who spoke to some of the staff said not all filling stations were in the habit of hoarding the product.
According to a pump attendant at Total Filling Station along Aba Road who spoke to The Tide on the condition of anonymity, Total has never hoarded the product ever since he joined the company.
He said it was because of the desire of Total Management to serve the public better that accounts for the large patronage witnessed by the filling station over the years.
At Mrs Filling Station also along Aba Road, some of the attendants spoken to were not forthcoming on the issue even as they said their manager was out of town.
The Tide’s Investigation yesterday showed that most filling stations were not open for business even as few staff seen around assured of steady supply in the next 48 hours.
But most residents who spoke to our correspondent said there were some filling stations in Port Harcourt and else where who have the habit of hoarding the commodity on the least expectation of delay in the delivery of petrol to the various stations.
They opined that the government could identify these stations and wondered why few were always sealed when crises arose.
They, however, called on the Rivers State government to identify those filing stations noted for hoarding at the least scarcity of the product and sanction them accordingly.
It  would be recalled that the Rivers State government sealed Conoil and one other last week for hoarding petrol at the wake of the perceived scarcity of the product.