Pump attendants at fuel stations should ensure that no one makes or receives a phone call within their bounds, the Energy and Water Utilities Regulatory Authority (EWURA) has directed.
It said such an action was dangerous as it may lead to an explosion or fire outbreak.
Ewura's Technical Manager for Petroleum Gerald Maganga, said when one receives or makes a phone call, there are some radio-actives that can lead to a fire outbreak.
This may kill people and at the same time destroy property, he said.
Maganga was addressing a seminar for fuel station attendants and station owners in Njombe yesterday.
“Members of the public take it for granted and ignore posters at various fuel stations that prohibit the use of mobile telephones. The fact is that the radio-active waves from the phone can cause fire.
“There are people who died such fire at fuel stations and when probing the cause, it was found out that one of the passengers was using a cellphone. This happened recently in Morogoro,” Maganga noted.
He therefore directed pump attendants at all fuel stations to be keen with posters warning that receiving or making a call from a cellphone can cause fire.
“There are people who ignore such warnings when refueling their vehicles. Imagine that there are vehicles which are being refueled when the engine is still on; this too is very dangerous,” he warned.
In another development, he said the TCRA has managed to curb fuel adulteration which used to be a big problem in the past.
He said it has done so through using various methods. They include installing some gadgets and conducting on-the-spot inspection on the fuel stations.
He said the moves have saved billions of shillings that were being lost in maintenance of the vehicles and other machines as a result of using adulterated fuel.
Petrol was being adulterated by mixing diesel, kerosene and fuel used in machines. This ensured that fuel station owners and/or pump attendants made extra money.
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