National Petroleum Corporation (NPC) Swiftly Repairs Leaking Gas Line on Tudor Street, Appreciated by Small Business Owners

Swift action by the National Petroleum Corporation (NPC) to repair a leaking gas line on Tudor Street, The City is being praised by the area’s small business owners despite the incident hampering business for the day.

On Tuesday, after reports of a gas leak, police officers and firefighters responded to emergency calls from Tudor Street. A section of the street was cordoned off to allow NPC workers to investigate the leak. Small traces of methane were later found in the atmosphere.

On Wednesday, some small business owners told Barbados TODAY that while their operations were affected, they were pleased the issue was resolved swiftly.

Jerry The Hat Man, a Tudor Street vendor, said he had to pack up his display of colourful bucket hats and leave when first responders cordoned off the area, restricting the flow of foot traffic and potential customers.

“The leakage was going on just before Christmas,” he said. “We were smelling gas and at first we thought it was being emitted from vehicles passing, but then we realised it had to be a leak. So yesterday, I was impacted because people could not pass and frequent the area how they are accustomed to so I had to shut down the business. But it is not a problem; safety comes first. I was pleased by the quick response because if there was an explosion and we died, you can’t do anything. So I think the men did a great job and the response was nice.”

Despite experiencing a reduction in sales, Philip Small, owner of Genesis Boutique, also thanked the gas company’s workers for taking action without delay.

He told Barbados TODAY: “[Because] people could not frequent the area as they normally would, my business was tremendously impacted. So if people are restricted from going to businesses the sales are going to dip. We were not expecting anything like this opening for the first working day of the year having gone through the long break for the New Year celebrations. But I understand that it had to be done because a gas leak is serious and the particular area where the gas was detected is a place where a lot of people smoke and drop cigarette buds so I did appreciate the efforts that were taken to protect the public.

“I think that the work the NPC guys did was very effective because you can no longer smell gas and what I appreciate more was the response; it was quick. In Barbados, we are accustomed to things dragging and it was not a case like that. The workers came out, did their checks and identified where the leak was coming from and went to work on it at the same time.”