By Adaobi Rhema Oguejiofor
The Liquefied Petroleum Gas Retailers (LPGAR), a branch of the National Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG), has raised alarm over the arrival and circulation of substandard cylinders and Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG), which is also referred to as cooking gas, that contains high propane content.
The immediate past Chairman of LPGAR, Mr. Chika Umudu, raised this concern during his address at the 3rd Quadrennial Delegates Conference with the theme: “Prioritizing Safety In LPG Retailing,” which held in Lagos.
Umudu, on behalf of the Association, also called on the Nigerian Midstream Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) and the Standards Organization of Nigeria (SON) to bring to a standstill the increasing circulation of high propane LPG in the market, as it is very dangerous to both the operators and consumers.
On the issue of substandard cylinders, LPGAR lamented that SON seems not to have a clear understanding of what is going on within the industry in terms of the standard of cylinders, accessories and equipment that are in circulation.
In his own words, ‘‘let us assume that the substandard cylinders being imported mainly from China is a temporary measure to fill the existing vacuum, what is the long-term plan to ensure that only standard cylinders are imported, and these substandard cylinders withdrawn in no distant future? why can’t we have these cylinders and accessories produced locally as was the case in the 1980s and 1990s?”
According to him, China cylinders can hardly withstand the exposure to Nigerian weather conditions for one year. It is like a time bomb, as millions of low-income earners in particular are oblivious of the monsters they are living with.
Umudu stated that the Association’s hope was raised when Techno Oil started producing cylinders in Nigeria, but that those cylinders disappeared from circulation shortly after their production commenced. He added that “it was possible that what happened to its predecessors in the 1990s had happened to it.”