The Municipality of Beirut is taking measures against attempts to monopolize gasoline, the Municipality’s Public Relations Department said in a statement on Wednesday.
In line with the instructions of Beirut Governor Marwan Abboud, inspectors of classified institutions in the Municipality of Beirut, alongside security personnel, conducted patrols in the capital.
The aim of the patrols was to ensure that gas stations were not monopolizing gasoline or refraining from selling it to people.
The gas stations that had closed despite having fuel in their tanks were fined and forced to work and refuel people’s cars.
In addition, one station was fined for “violating the content of the Beirut Governor’s circular, according to which stations in Beirut are prohibited from selling and filling plastic gallons,” the statement said.
This station had been storing gallons “in an invisible way” with the aim of selling them to people on the black market. The containers were seized by the inspectors.
The use of gallons was prohibited in Beirut due to the fact that they are flammable and could “cause fires and catastrophes that threaten public safety.”
Back in October 2020, Governor Abboud issued a circular whereby he banned the storage of any quantity of gasoline in buildings for any reason after a diesel tank exploded in a bakery, causing multiple deaths and injuries.