RISKING DISASTER - Students, commuters turn gas stations into gathering spots, taxi hubs despite dangers

Across Jamaica, service stations are increasingly serving as social gathering spots and informal taxi hubs, attracting crowds far beyond their intended purpose and raising concerns about public safety.

As people congregate to socialise, await transportation or conduct business amid fuel pumps and heavy vehicular traffic, safety advocates warn that the combination of large crowds, moving vehicles and flammable fuels creates risks with potentially serious consequences.

One service station in Duhaney Park, St Andrew, is among those where passengers routinely flirt with danger. Students from the nearby Edith Dalton James High School gather there daily after classes, with some sitting on fuel pumps and using their mobile phones despite warning signs prohibiting the use of such devices near pumps. This occurs while attendants continue dispensing fuel without cautioning the youngsters.

Elsewhere on the property, taxi operators have effectively transformed part of the station into a mini transport hub, parking their vehicles while scanning the area for potential passengers.

The Sunday Gleaner observed this activity over several weeks.

Similar scenes were noted at two service stations in the heart of Half-Way Tree, St Andrew. One appeared to function more prominently as a transport hub than the other. At one location, passengers stood or sat beside fuel pumps while waiting for transportation. Although most taxis remained outside the premises, some entered to pick up and drop off passengers.

At the second station, activity was concentrated around the entrance and exit, which were frequently obstructed by commuters and taxis being loaded.

Lorraine Finnikin, president of the All Voices Taxi Association, one of the umbrella organisations within the Kingston Metropolitan Transport Region (KMTR), argued that many people are drawn to service stations for reasons unrelated to public transportation.

“[Some] gas stations carry a mini-market, mini supermarket. And so, from time to time, both students and the adult traveling public would have to go to this mini supermarket at the gas station for several reasons, whether to top up their phone card, or to get refreshments, or to use the bathroom, the sanitary convenience facility,” he told The Sunday Gleaner.

Nevertheless, Finnikin maintained that commuters should not be using service stations as boarding points.

“There's no reason why any commuter should be at any gas station whatsoever waiting to board their public transportation,” he said, noting that he has been in continuous dialogue with the Transport Authority over the past five years regarding public passenger vehicle operators picking up and setting down passengers at service stations across Jamaica.

Transport Authority Managing Director Ralston Smith said forthcoming legislation is expected to tackle what he described as an “unsafe practice”.

“This is something that the amended Transport Authority Act 2022 will seek to address and certainly, the regulations that are on stream to be promulgated shortly,” Smith told The Sunday Gleaner.

Although passed by Parliament in August 2022, the Transport Authority (Amendment) Act 2022 remains in limbo pending the drafting and promulgation of its operational regulations.

The legislation includes significantly heavier penalties for transport operators and individuals who breach regulations, operate without a road licence or use expletives and abusive language. It also provides legal backing for technology and electronic tracking systems to monitor compliance with public transportation rules and facilitate the remote detection of breaches.

While the legislation remains stalled, Smith stressed that stakeholders must exercise better judgement.

“The practice of students [and other] passengers congregating at gas stations is something that the authority frowns on. It is an unsafe practice because, as you know, anything can happen. Any eventuality can happen at a gas station. So, the authority is discouraging all … passengers to discontinue this particular practice and to use the available infrastructure, transport centres and taxi parks that are provided around the country to board and disembark from public transportation,” Smith said.

One commuter in Montego Bay, St James, acknowledged that gathering at service stations to board taxis can be hazardous. She admitted feeling uneasy, particularly when fuel trucks are offloading, and pointed to frequent disputes between motorists and pedestrians who narrowly avoid being struck as drivers manoeuvre through crowded entrances and exits.

Even so, she prefers using a service station rather than the North Gully taxi hub.

“In comparison to where we’re supposed to be, it’s way safer because right across from the market, you have some different shops with some suspicious-looking people, and you’re more likely to get harmed there than at the gas station,” she said.

“Also, cars park there [so the space isn’t really there for taxis]. So over the years, people just start coming to the gas station,” she added.

A taxi operator seeking passengers at another service station in the city also acknowledged the dangers but argued that the designated taxi stand is inadequate.

“Well, everybody knows that it’s dangerous to load at a gas station. It is risky because anything can go wrong at any given time,” he said. “But nobody nah go down a Creek Street because the number of taxis that run to Wakefield/Dumfries is too much for Creek.”

He suggested relocating the transport hub to a more practical location.

“If we could get somewhere near to Tastee (Upper Barnett Street), that would be good,” he said.

Taxi operators in Duhaney Park also said they are left with limited options to operate.

“It’s either the gas station or the road,” one told The Sunday Gleaner, pointing to the congested exit from Duhaney Drive on to Washington Boulevard.

He also noted that the rundown sheds serving as bus stops on Washington Boulevard are inadequate, especially during inclement weather, so many people avoid them.

Smith conceded that weaknesses in the public transport system contribute to the problem.

“The Transport Authority is seeking under the new improved Transport Authority Act, which was passed in 2022, to be one of the critical partners to augment local government in terms of construction of facilities going forward so that we can help to improve the number of facilities and the aesthetics of those facilities to make them more user-friendly for all the members of the public in general,” he said.

Despite the dangers, a senior police officer, speaking on condition of anonymity, noted that gathering at service stations does not constitute a criminal offence.

“The police can, however, use moral suasion. We have a responsibility for the safety of people – the general public. And since [people] are putting themselves at risk, you know, endangering themselves, we can encourage them to move on or order them to move along, get home, get up from where you're sitting down. But there's nothing strictly speaking in law that says we could detain or arrest them,” the officer said.

Research by The Sunday Gleaner found no regulatory clause within the Jamaica Petroleum Act explicitly prohibiting members of the public from assembling around fuel pumps. However, service stations operate under several laws, including the Trespass Act, the Fire Prevention Act and Bureau of Standards safety rules governing public safety at potentially hazardous sites such as petroleum stations.

Christopher Foster, chairman of the Jamaica Gasolene Retailers Association’s (JGRA) Road Safety and Security Committee, acknowledged that the issue is widespread.

“The dealers are mindful of the dangers that exist. As such, some sites have hired security guards to monitor the forecourt and parking lots. They have even gone as far as barricading certain sections of the premises to prevent vehicles from overcrowding the parking area,” he told The Sunday Gleaner.

According to Foster, service station operators cannot effectively address the problem without stronger state support.

“We have stated in the past and wish to reiterate that service station operators require greater support from law enforcement. Violators are often very disrespectful and confrontational toward staff when asked to stand or park in designated areas, frequently ignoring such instructions altogether, which ultimately leaves staff feeling powerless,” he said.

The potential consequences of such behaviour were highlighted on February 21, 2020, when tragedy struck in Mandeville, Manchester. A motor vehicle exploded after crashing into another vehicle at a service station, triggering a massive fire.

The inferno claimed the life of 59-year-old Daniel Farquharson, injured several others and caused extensive damage to nearly a dozen vehicles and surrounding property.

It is incidents such as this that prompted the Jamaica Fire Brigade (JFB) to raise concerns after reviewing photographs shared by The Sunday Gleaner.

“The practice of sitting in gas stations is something that is a no-no. The gas stations in themselves are already dangerous. So when we see persons sitting in the gas station, I've seen pictures of persons loitering around and they have devices in their hands. We all know, or for persons who don't know, a single spark [can cause a fire],” said JFB Public Education Officer Superintendent Emeleo Ebanks.

He noted that sparks can be triggered by an incoming call or a malfunctioning device.

Referencing the devastating Mandeville blaze, Ebanks issued a stern warning.

“We want to remind the parents, we want to remind the principals, those persons at the schools, the guardians, everybody, do not have the children loitering in the gas stations. The gas station, the pump attendants, the supervisors, we all have a role to play,” said Ebanks.

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