Seven People Nabbed As ERC Cracks Down On Illegal LPG Refilling Unit In Makongeni.
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| Some of the stuff that was impounded at the illegal gas filling yard in Makongeni Thika. (Inset: Kiambu Director of Environment Andrew Njenga Kimani. |
Several others are
said to have escaped during the night raid. This comes in the wake of
revelations that there are many filling stations operating in the area
illegally.
The illegal plant,
located in a residential area, has been operating for quite some time exposing the
lives of residents in danger.
Speaking to the
press after the raid, Kiambu Director of Environment Andrew Njenga Kimani warned
members of public about the business. According to him, the suspects were
following risky methods to refill the gas cylinders, which could have been
dangerous in case of a blast.
“This yard is
located within a residential area posing grave danger to not only the fillers,
their customers but also the public. There has not been any safety precaution
taken here and this is very dangerous and may lead to explosions and fire
accidents,” said Kimani.
He decried the
increased illegal refilling of LPG Gas, calling on the ERC to hasten its
efforts in curbing the business.
“The growth in
demand for cooking gas over the years is among main factors fueling growth of
the illicit industry segment. These illegal racketeers sell the LPG at a lesser
price than the commercial rates charged by fuel filling stations so the demand
for them is very high,” he added.
Otherwise, the
officer promised that stringent action would be taken against those who traded
in this illicit business who he claimed used a well-entrenched network of
middlemen to divert LPG gas and cylinders from petroleum companies an operation
that has been so difficult for government enforcers to detect the illegal
diversion.
Documents found in
the yard showed that the business belonged to Pekenya Gas Suppliers Ltd of Box
70310 Thika. The daily sales documents indicated that it was a mega business
with an average daily turnover of about sh. 400,000.
Majority of the
clients are well known supermarkets and petrol stations within Thika Town and
its environs who, according to the records, frequented the place buying gas
worth hundreds of thousands of shillings.
The supplier uses a
motorised pump to siphon the gas from the reservoirs of vehicles modified to
run on LPG and with a specialised nozzles, they inject cooking gas into the gas
cylinders. There are also some weighing scale used by the racketeers to
determine the amount of gas they retailed.
For quite a while
now, ERC officials have been complaining of the mushrooming of such illegal
yards. Such premises abet in siphoning off of LPG from the domestic gas
cylinders and cheating of consumers by supplying underweight cylinders. It is suspected
that the gas is sourced from some errant LPG distributors spread all over the
country and the East African region. There have been so many premises across
the country indulging in the business of illegal filling of LPG.
Statistics on the
other hand are scanty as to how much gas is bought and sold in the black
market, but the industry players say the segment could account for as much as
30 percent of LPG that is consumed in the country.
Last month, two
people were seriously wounded in a fire incident caused by a gas explosion in
Ndenderu area, Kiambu County. The two were part of a group working at an
illegal gas filling point when one of the cylinders leaked and caused a fire
and loud explosion. Police and locals said the fire spread fast, burning the
two as their colleagues escaped.
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