In a direct reaction to moves by the Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON) to remove old Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) cylinders from circulation, the Association of LPG Operators in Nigeria has said that the exercise will create problems for households using cooking gas.
Director General of SON, Mr. Joseph Odumodu had vowed last week to remove cylinders above 15years from the market in order to ensure safety of Nigerians.
In a direct reaction to moves by the Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON) to remove old Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) cylinders from circulation, the Association of LPG Operators in Nigeria has said that the exercise will create problems for households using cooking gas.
Director General of SON, Mr. Joseph Odumodu had vowed last week to remove cylinders above 15years from the market in order to ensure safety of Nigerians.
But the President of the association of LPG operators, Alhaji Auwalu Ilu in an exclusive chat with Shipping Position Daily in Lagos last week observed that even though the move is a good one targeted at ensuring safety of Nigerians using LPG, it is going to create challenges.
Auwalu pointed out that the new cylinders that are being injected into the market are not yet in full circulation.
Speaking further, he said, "it is for the safety of the industry, it will create problems but you also have to do the right thing, there will be challenges but a lot of cylinders are now being injected into the market"
Auwalu said that provided the new cylinders are well circulated in the market, withdrawing the old ones will not create any problems.
"In fact most of the operators have cylinders that they are not even selling yet".
He explained that member of the association including; Oando, Total, Ultimate Gas among others, all have quite a number of imported cylinders.
He however assured that for now, gas is available and that there has not been any shortage for a long time.
SON boss, Odumodu speaking recently had said that, “cylinders above 15 years, which is the agreed period for their revalidation, would be affected,” he warned.
According to him, it has become imperative to tackle the menace associated with the LPG cylinders.
“Aside enhancing safety of lives and property in the industry, revalidation of cylinders would also boost the LPG business as well as create more confidence in the minds of users on safety.”
Odumodu noted that part of SON’s statutory mandate is to protect lives and property through standards. He said the requalification exercise would also eliminate most of the sub-standard cylinders from circulation and also lead to the scrapping of old cylinders.
We have been meeting with key sectors of the economy and the operators in the LPG sector especially for industrial safety by ensuring that imported LPG cylinders and those produced in Nigeria meet the requirements of NIS 69: 2006.
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