Govt. faults gas companies for not proving protection for consumers

State Minister of Consumer Protection Lasantha Alagiyawanna

State Minister of Consumer Protection Lasantha Alagiyawanna yesterday alleged that Liquified Petroleum Gas (LPG) companies have failed to provide any protection for consumers for decades, insisting that the two firms cannot run away from their responsibility.

“From 1 January to 6 December, we have recorded 505 LPG-linked fires and explosions from domestic and commercial level. The Government will not hesitate to take legal action against the two gas companies if they are found guilty,” the State Minister said, joining the weekly post-Cabinet meeting media briefing yesterday.

Stating that similar incidents were reported related to LPG earlier this year, Alagiyawanna said the mass-scale incidents were recorded from 29 November, where 16 occurrences took place on a single day.

“Everyone is to be blamed for from the Government to, State agencies and the two private companies should take the responsibility for not paying any attention for these incidents for decades,” he said.

He pointed out that since 1968, successive governments have failed to enforced any regulation for the LPG industry and for the appliances and equipment used.

“The lives lost due to these unfortunate situation is irreplaceable,” Alagiyawanna said, adding that three deaths were reported thus far.

The State Minister noted the Government will take steps to serve justice to consumers, based on information that will be uncovered in future.

“The objective of the Government is to bring the incidents to zero level,” he stressed. 

He affirmed that Government will take severe legal action against the two gas companies if found guilty.

Acknowledging that 30% of families in the country use LPG for cooking purposes, the State Minister also requested the public to be cautious in using the LPG.

Around 270,000 LPG cylinders are distributed to the market per month. (CdeS)