Beau Vallon petrol station re-opens |02 April 2022
A general view of the newly renovated petrol station at Beau Vallon (Photos : Thomas Meriton)
Built over 40 years ago, the Beau Vallon petrol station re-opened and resumed operations yesterday after undergoing six months of renovation work.
General manager of operations and technical at the Seychelles Petroleum Company (Seypec), Ray Hoareau, said they are happy that the renovation works have been completed and that the station has resumed services to the public in the area.
Initially, the project was supposed to take up to five months to complete as Seychelles did not want the station to remain closed for too long.
Mr Hoareau said they emphasised on the five-month duration with the contractors ‒ Laxmanbhai & Co ‒ to ensure that their customers get access to the service as soon as possible. However, Seypec faced a few constraints which delayed the renovation work for another month. The demolition took a bit longer as some of the neighbours in the area complained about the noise and therefore the company had to pull back for some time while it sought ways to reduce the noise level.
Other aspects that caused the delay were related to issues having to do with the aluminium profiles as well as the corrugated iron sheets as they did not match the company’s brand colour, among other issues that were outside the company’s control.
During the renovation work the mechanical installation including the tanks was removed completely. Mr Hoareau said in the past one of the tanks had to be decommissioned and the station was running only on three tanks.
The metal tanks have been replaced with composite and fibre glass tanks that are more resistant to erosion and the company expects them to last for a longer period. The storage capacity also has seen a boost as previously stock was limited. So far there are two tanks, one for diesel and the other for gas.
New HDPE pipelines have been installed, HDPE being a type of flexible plastic pipe used for fluid and gas transfer made from the thermoplastic HDPE, its high level of permeability and strong molecular bond making it more suitable for high pressure pipelines. The electrical network has undergone a major upgrade, the forefront canopy and main building roofs redone, as well as the boundary walls. The tarmac has been resurfaced with the forecourt area looking tidier and the drive through the station much smoother. A new signage totem and a new CCTV system have also been installed.
On the LPG side, the storage shed has been replaced by a new one which is now on the same side of the customer parking area offering an easier access to the cylinders.
Mr Hoareau said the Bel Ombre marine refuelling station will continue to stay operational as the company has identified that it serves a purpose considering that many boat owners, dive centres and fishermen use this station.
Mr Hoareau took the opportunity to advise the public to take precaution when using the station as often the company has had to replace the pumps which cost about R250,000 because people drive off with the fuel pump still in their cars.
Marla Simeon