Senegal in control of gasoline quality

Tag : General Gasoline Engine
- While consumers in many West African countries complain about poorquality gasoline on the market, Senegalese consumers since 2002have only had access to good gasoline. Authorities strive hard tocontrol the quality of imported gasoline into the country.
Unlike most countries in the region, Senegalese authorities haveput in place effective quality control systems at the port ofentry, which disallowed offloading of poor quality gasoline or fuelin general. The measure was precipitated by the public outcry overthe poor quality of imported gasoline in 2002.

High level investigations into the issue by the police uncoveredthe source of the poor quality, which Senegalese consumers say wasdistributed by Mobil. Soon, the sale of the shipment of badgasoline - which had taken its negative toll on human health, theenvironment and vehicle engines - was banned.

At a time most parts of West African citizens are complaining ofdwindling quality of gasoline, Senegalese drivers, petrol sellers,port officials and police, are proud of the country's qualitygasoline.

Drivers admitted that the gasoline banned in 2002 could haveendangered the lives of a number of their colleagues and destroyedvehicles. "Since most drivers who used the bad quality gasoline didnot go for medical check-up, we are yet to know how many of thembecame victims of the problem," said Momar Gueye, a Dakar driver.

"Both the government and port officials see the need to guaranteethe entry of imported quality gasoline into Senegal," a portofficial told afrol News. The official, who wished to remainunnamed, said they cannot sit back and allow poor quality gasolineto harm people and the environment.

afrol News investigations have indicated the offloading of poorgasoline products in the ports of some West African countries,including Nigeria, Ghana and Togo. Several named vessels andtransport routes have come into the spotlight of investigations.

But according to Jean-Fran