Gas supply to industries disrupted following fire breakdown
What you need to know:
According to the Tanzania Petroleum Development Corporation (TPDC), the factories are yet to be reconnected to the gas supply due to challenges caused by water leakage following damage on the Dar es Salaam Water and Sewerage Corporation (Dawasco) network in the area.
Dar es Salaam. Factories that supplied gas by a pipeline that exploded at Buruguni Mnyamani on Tuesday evening following a leak that led to a fire outbreak continue to receive no supplies; it has been learnt on Wednesday, January 10.
According to the Tanzania Petroleum Development Corporation (TPDC), the factories are yet to be reconnected to the gas supply due to challenges caused by water leakage following damage on the Dar es Salaam Water and Sewerage Corporation (Dawasco) network in the area.
He noted that TPDC experts in collaboration with Pan African Energy Tanzania (Paet) are still assessing the extent of damage caused by the incident.
TPDC acting director Kapuulya Msomba told The Citizen that there was less harm to human life and damage to property because already houses that had encroached onto the railway reserve land had been demolished.
Mr Msomba said after assessing the damage, TPDC will meet with Dawasco to decide on the way forward.
“Our experts are now on site fixing the problem. We want to resume supplying gas to our customers as soon as possible,” he said.
According to him, initial assessment showed that an electric transformer, property of Tanzania Electric Supply Company (Tanesco), was damaged. He called on all other people who lost their properties to come forth so that evaluations would be made.
In another development, Paet commercial manager Bizimana Ntuyabaliwe said in a statement that following the explosion, early indications suggest there were some excavation works being carried out by another company, not associated with Paet.
He added that, Paet supported by the local police and its own emergency response teams, responded to the incident and brought the situation under control by shutting down various parts of the downstream gas supply network. The fire was finally extinguished around 23.00 hours.
“Paet has been reliably producing natural gas to industry and for power generation in Tanzania, uninterrupted, for 14 years,” he said.
This is the first time such an incident has occurred. Together with our partner TPDC, we have carried out several campaigns to warn the public and companies of the dangers of working on or around the pipeline. The risks of ignoring those warnings and procedures are clear from what we have seen here.
We urge everyone that prior to any excavation work or development near the natural gas pipeline they s should contact Paet and the appropriate Tanzanian authority for advice.
The fire occurred in the downstream gas pipeline, according to officials.
In another development, Dar es Salaam Police Commander, Benedict Kitalika said that the explosion destroyed small business stalls located near the area while a house that caught fire on the roof was immediately saved after fire brigades arrived on time at the scene.
Normally fire caused by gas starts at the top but it was controlled before it could spread to the rest of the house,” he said.
Dawasco’s acting public relations manager Everlasting Lyaro declined to comment on the matter on grounds that she was outside the city and efforts to contact the director proved futile because his phone was switched off.
