KATHMANDU, APR 29, 2012
The government has remained silent even though consumers of Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) have been facing hurdles for six months.
Nepal Oil Corporation (NOC) has been issuing Product Delivery Order (PDO) to import 800 metric tonnes of cooking gas on an average daily, said deputy director of the corporation Sushil Bhattarai. “The import is enough to meet the market demand since normal consumption of cooking gas is 16,500 to 17,000 metric tonnes per month.”
The corporation had imported a record high 17,500 metric tonnes of cooking gas in March and the import will be around the same figure this month too, said Bhattarai. However, what is missing is the government’s serious intervention to track imports and supply details. The government has failed to regulate the cooking gas business in spite of frequent promises from the Ministry of Commerce and Supplies, and NOC.
On March 11, NOC had published a public notice directing bottling plants and dealers not to sell cooking gas for industrial purpose. It had warned of stringent action including stopping the issuance of Product Delivery Order to those plants who fail to follow its directive.
Bottling plants and dealers are openly supplying cooking gas to industries at present but the corporation has done nothing, according to consumer rights activists. “Some 500 printing presses and other industries are openly using cooking gas as a source of energy,” consumer rights activist Prem Lal Maharjan had recently said during an interaction organised by Nepal Oil Corporation. “But, the corporation has not been able to do anything.”
In its public notice, NOC had also directed all bottling plants to submit a detailed record of import and supply on a daily basis and introduce a system of hydrostatic test of cooking gas cylinders to ensure safety.
But, both provisions are yet to be implemented. Ministry of Industry should take the initiative to regulate bottling plants since it issues operating licence to them, the corporation claimed.
“Ministry of Industry has to take the responsibility for the rampant malpractice in the cooking gas business,” said deputy managing director of NOC Sushil Bhattarai. “Nepal Oil Corporation has no legal right to scrap the licence of bottling plants,” he lamented.
“The government often blames NOC for scarcity but it is the equal duty of the Ministry of Industry, Department of Commerce and District Administration Office to curtail black-market, cartel and hoarding according to existing laws.”
Source: THT
The government has remained silent even though consumers of Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) have been facing hurdles for six months.
Nepal Oil Corporation (NOC) has been issuing Product Delivery Order (PDO) to import 800 metric tonnes of cooking gas on an average daily, said deputy director of the corporation Sushil Bhattarai. “The import is enough to meet the market demand since normal consumption of cooking gas is 16,500 to 17,000 metric tonnes per month.”
The corporation had imported a record high 17,500 metric tonnes of cooking gas in March and the import will be around the same figure this month too, said Bhattarai. However, what is missing is the government’s serious intervention to track imports and supply details. The government has failed to regulate the cooking gas business in spite of frequent promises from the Ministry of Commerce and Supplies, and NOC.
On March 11, NOC had published a public notice directing bottling plants and dealers not to sell cooking gas for industrial purpose. It had warned of stringent action including stopping the issuance of Product Delivery Order to those plants who fail to follow its directive.
Bottling plants and dealers are openly supplying cooking gas to industries at present but the corporation has done nothing, according to consumer rights activists. “Some 500 printing presses and other industries are openly using cooking gas as a source of energy,” consumer rights activist Prem Lal Maharjan had recently said during an interaction organised by Nepal Oil Corporation. “But, the corporation has not been able to do anything.”
In its public notice, NOC had also directed all bottling plants to submit a detailed record of import and supply on a daily basis and introduce a system of hydrostatic test of cooking gas cylinders to ensure safety.
But, both provisions are yet to be implemented. Ministry of Industry should take the initiative to regulate bottling plants since it issues operating licence to them, the corporation claimed.
“Ministry of Industry has to take the responsibility for the rampant malpractice in the cooking gas business,” said deputy managing director of NOC Sushil Bhattarai. “Nepal Oil Corporation has no legal right to scrap the licence of bottling plants,” he lamented.
“The government often blames NOC for scarcity but it is the equal duty of the Ministry of Industry, Department of Commerce and District Administration Office to curtail black-market, cartel and hoarding according to existing laws.”
Source: THT
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