The Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR), Abeokuta Field Office, has donated 40 units of 12.5 kg gas cylinders to the food vendors of the Federal Government Home Grown School Feeding Programme in Ogun.
The cylinders were donated to the beneficiaries by the Operations Controller, DPR, Abeokuta Field Office, Mrs Muinat Bello-Zagi, at a sensitisation programme in Abeokuta on Friday.
The sensitisation programme is with the theme: “LPG Penetration Awareness Campaign for Home Grown School Feeding Programme”.
Bello-Zagi said the gesture was to improve the penetration of Liquified Petroleum Gas (LPG) in Ogun.
She said it was also to among other things, alleviate the suffering and bring a new lease of life to the vendors who are accustomed to using fire woods and charcoal to do their cooking.
Bello-Zagi said that DPR embarked on the awareness programme to enlighten food vendors and the general public on the advantages of using gas to cook.
She argued that gas is safer and environmental friendly compared to charcoal and fire wood.
The controller, who listed other advantages of gas, said it does not contain sulphur which is found in charcoal and fire wood, said to be dangerous to human health and the environment.
“We learnt that some of them (food vendors and caterers) have been using charcoal and firewood and as we all know, charcoal and fire wood do have some negative impact on the environment and the health, so we decided to create this awareness to promote the use of LPG among them.
“The other objective of the programme is to support them and that is why the DPR field office has presented them the LPG cylinders free of charge.
“We also want to create awareness on the safe use of gas cylinders; how to operate it, how to maintain the cylinder and what to watch out for before buying a cylinder.
“Also to create awareness on what to do when there is any issue with the cylinder, where to go and how to get it repaired,” she explained.
Bello-Zagi urged gas users to always patronise DPR licensed gas plants whenever they want to fill their cylinders and desist from patronising unlicensed road side gas vendors to avoid fire accidents.
The Chairperson of the vendors, Mrs Olanike Okeleye, who responded on behalf of her colleagues, commended the DPR for the gesture, saying the awareness programme was not only interesting, but also useful for the vendors and caterers.
She urged the DPR to extend the programme to other parts of the state to capture other LPG users.
