Cooking gas dealers want import tests scrapped

Police officers stand guard at an illegal cooking gas plant in Karatina, Nyeri County. FILE PHOTO | NMG 

By GALGALLO FAYO

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Summary

• Dealers have asked the High Court to suspend the notice issued by the ERC on October 27 announcing that all Liquefied Petroleum Gas imports will be subjected to mandatory tests before entry into the country.
• The dealers claim that no public participation took place before the notice was issued, adding they were not given enough time to comply with the directive.

Cooking gas dealers have moved to court challenging an order by the regulator requiring mandatory tests on their imports from November 1.

The Energy Dealers Association is asking the High Court to suspend the notice issued by the Energy Regulatory commission (ERC) on October 27 announcing that all Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) imports will be subjected to mandatory tests before entry into the country.

The dealers claim that no public participation took place before the notice was issued, adding they were not given enough time to comply with the directive.

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“The applicant be granted leave to apply for order of certiorari to bring into this court and quash the respondent’s decision as contained in its notice dated October 27, 2018 introducing new terms and conditions involving importation of Liquefied Petroleum Gas,” reads one of the orders sought by the dealers.

The traders claim that the notice was issued in secrecy, and has given them less than a week to prepare arguing that the decision is not reasonable and is unfair.

The dealers further fault the ERC for failing to be considerate to the traders importing the LPG from Tanzania through the Namanga border, arguing that the only two test machines available will be stationed in Nairobi and Mombasa.

The association questions ERC’s failure to station a testing machine in Namanga, noting that the regulator has not addressed the inconvenience and the cost incurred to move the import to Nairobi or Mombasa for testing.

The dealers are wondering if the ERC has not been testing the imports prior to the planned launch of mandatory test.

The dealers want the ERC to use its expertise to resolve the issue stalking the low-cost gas project that has been recently been hit by allegations of faulty gas cylinder claims.

The traders are referring to the Sh3 billion cheap cooking gas plan mooted in October 2016 and intended to contain destruction of forests through reduction of the use of charcoal, firewood and kerosene.