DPR to sanction unlicensed LPG marketers

THE Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) said it will begin tosanction unlicensed marketers of Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG),otherwise called cooking gas, who are specialised in decanting theproduct at home or in shops.Speaking at a stakeholders’ meeting in Port Harcourt, Rivers State,the Zonal Operations Comptroller of DPR, Port Harcourt, Bassey Nkanga,stated that “The reason for this meeting is to encourage you to keyinto the Federal Government aspirations to make LPG accessible toevery nook and crannies of the country, even the rural areas.

“We will always give you all the necessary support to back up yourbusiness successfully. We will work together to achieve governmentaspirations to penetrate LPG usage even up to rural communities.“Plans are ongoing to clamp down on any LPG retailer involved indecanting of gas in the shop or at homes. We have set up a monitoringunit to arrest defaulters, seized their equipment and they will payfine.”

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He said DPR is committed to ensuring an immediate end to decanting ofLPG in the shops and markets retailers, warning that the agencywill clamp down on anyone involved in such practices.Nkanga explained that in line with the Federal Government directive tomake LPG available to every Nigerian, DPR will give all the necessary

support to the stakeholders to back up their business successfully.He further stated that add-ons would rather be converted to autogasstations while assuring that the Federal Government’s plans to open upLPG utilization in the country will generate a lot of employment inthe country.

The Zonal DPR boss also urged defaulters and stakeholders operatingwithout an operational license to come forward to renew or obtainedtheir license from the agency.“We are giving two weeks for defaulters to come forward forregularisation to renew their license, and for those whose license hasexpired and or obtained a license for those who do not previously havea license and have been operating illegally.

“We have a mandate from the Federal Government to ensure tha stakeholders comply with safety guidelines. We have a mandate toensure that only licensed LPG operators are allowed to operate.“We have a mandate to remove any form of delay in obtaining licenses,in line with the federal government ease of doing business directive.

If you have any challenge, come forward and we will look into it,”Nkanga said.Speaking on behalf of the stakeholders, the Zonal Chairman, National Association of Liquefied Petroleum Gas Marketers, NALPGAM, Mr. Sam Okafor, commended DPR for the meeting and pledged to synergize with the agency to meet its aims.