Regulate gas composition immediately

We have been compelled to editorially write again and again about the domestic Liquid Petroleum Gas crisis faced by millions of families in the country as the hoodwinking of consumers by the heads of the gas companies and the government politicians are continuing. 

Now, around 25 domestic LP Gas related explosions and fire are occurring a day in this country, which means an incident every hour. However, the response to those incidents by the authorities including the relevant ministers is incredible and illogical. They do not know or do not want to know the reason or reasons for the incidents of fire, especially the explosions which are the highest number of incidents. 

Earlier in the month they suspended unloading of a shipment of domestic gas claiming that the gas is not up to the standards and then allowed to distribute. The reason for the suspension of unloading was said to be the insufficient volume of ‘Ethyl Mercaptan’, an additive meant for emanation of odour which might alert the consumer of an impending explosion or fire. And the authorities of LITRO Gas Company told media that they were allowed to unload shipment as the Ethyl Mercaptan additive volume was brought up to the standards on board the ship itself. 
Same thing happened last week when the authorities suspended a shipment claiming that they want to check the Ethyl Mercaptan levels in gas and then released the consignment for distribution on Saturday. Are they sure that the reason for explosions is the low volume of odour emanating additive and not the excessive pressure inside the cylinder? Are they sure that odour will definitely emanate from the gas cylinder or the accessories, before every explosions or fire? If the volume of the Ethyl Mercaptan odourant is the culprit behind the explosions, how can they explain the explosions that happened in households where the new cylinders were used with the ‘red seal’ which was meant to ensure the proper volume of odour?

They, the gas company bigwigs and the relevant ministers initially blamed the accessories used with the cylinders for the mishaps, which is illogical except for very rare cases, as the people were using the same accessories for the past three decades without accidents. A committee appointed by the government also issued a statement advising the consumers to ensure that their accessories are in order with the SLS numbers only for quality hoses and regulators but not for the cookers. That advice too has been issued on the premise that no fault in the composition of gas which is highly suspected as the reason for the explosions. 

However, State Minister for Co-operative Services and Consumer Protection, Lasantha Alagiyawanna admitted in parliament on November 29 that there is an issue with the composition. And the Court of Appeal after hearing a writ petition filed by civil society activist Nagananda Kodithuwakku over the gas related explosions and fire, ordered the two domestic gas suppliers, LITRO Gas Lanka Limited and LAUGFS Gas PLC on December 17 (last Friday) to display the contents of domestic gas cylinder on its label and distribute only products that are in compliance with the standards approved by the Sri Lanka Standards Institution (SLSI). 

Kodithuwakku told during a YouTube interview after the court order that the propane-butane ratio in domestic gas in Sri Lanka has been 20:80 some years back, but the propane percentage has now been increased up to 50 from 20. He argues that since propane has four times greater pressure than butane, this measure definitely could have increased the pressure inside the cylinder leading to kitchen disasters. 

During the Court of Appeal hearing on Friday, State Counsel Manohara Jayasinghe appearing for the Sri Lanka Standards Institution (SLSI) had stated that a special meeting was to be held on December 20 (yesterday) to determine the composition of a domestic gas cylinder. However, the latest consignment of gas was reportedly released for distribution on Saturday only ensuring the volume of Ethyl Mercaptan. According to the State Counsel’s submission and the order by the court on Friday, a sticker or a label on the cylinder must inform the consumer that the gas he/she is buying has the percent of propane decided by the SLSI. Did the authorities follow this court order when they decided to allow the distribution of latest gas shipment on Saturday? 

This is a country that has allowed distributing gas without any safe standard. And the Public Utilities Commission of Sri Lanka (PUCSL) said in a statement on December 2 that the earlier standard of LPG (SLS 712) of 1998 did not mandate any ratio of propane to butane for domestic cooking. It also said that one of the reasons for not enforcing the standard is the lack of a statutory body to regulate LP gas. In 2002, the PUCSL was appointed to regulate the petroleum industry, including LP gas. However, the Commission has not been legally empowered to regulate this area to date. The result of all these has been a death of a mother of four children and several people being injured, apart from damages to the hundreds of properties. Authorities must at least bring order, now that we have learnt the hard way.