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SON Confiscates Substandard Cylinders

IN order to curtail the many incidences of Liquefied Petroleum Gas [LPG] cylinder explosions, Standard Organisation of Nigeria [SON] has decided to introduce requalification of gas cylinder to ascertain their quality and shelf life just as it destroyed over 5,000 cylinders worth more than N51.3M at its warehouse at Amuwo-Odofin in Lagos.

“Requalification scheme is an exercise where cylinders will undergo recertification test every five years till it reaches its 15-year life span. Any cylinder that fails such a test will be withdrawn from circulation,” explained SON Director, Inspectorate and Compliance Department, Obiora Manafa, who represented the Director General, Osita Aboloma.

Speaking to the media during the exercise, he assured that once the requalification exercise takes off, many accidents occasioned by cylinder explosions will be reduced to the barest minimum.

“However, this exercise cannot be carried out by SON alone but by all the stakeholders in the industry like the DPPR, retailers, marketers etcetera”. He lamented that one of the major challenges threatening the takeoff and success of the scheme is the issue of ownership of the cylinder.

Throwing more light on the issue, Manafa said that such schemes are easy in countries like China where cylinders are owned by government. In such countries, expired cylinders are withdrawn from circulation and replaced by standard ones. “In Nigeria, how can one force a consumer to drop expired cylinder and purchase a new one? What if she argues she has no money for a new one? However, we shall surmount that challenge.”

Taking journalists round the site to observe the destruction of the over 5,000 substandard Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) cylinders worth N51.3 million. Manafa urged consumers to only buy cylinders that have SON printed on them and called consumers to also desist from using cylinders above 6.5kg as camping gas.

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Of particular interest were hundreds of imported 12.5kg cylinders built in such a way that it will only be used as camping gas. These impounded cylinders were brought into the country by an unscrupulous importer.

“Having a cooking pot on top of the cylinder as high as 12.5kg stands the risk of tilting over. It is also highly dangerous to subject the high volume of LPG in a high-volume capacity cylinder to heat from the cooker that is directly on top of the cylinder.” He said only 3kg, 5kg and 6.25kg cylinders are used for camping gas and fitted with camping valves, stressing that any cylinder above 6.25kg used for camping shall be seized and destroyed.

“There is a need to adhere strictly to standards when dealing in LPG cylinders. It is highly dangerous to use cylinders of higher capacities like 12.5kg and above as camping gas where burners are fitted on top of the cylinders,” he warned.

The brand names of the cylinders indicated they were imported by different businessmen. The destroyed cylinders were in sizes of 50kg, 12.5kg, 6kg and 3kg and had branded names such as Anadolugaz, Royaltek, Setro, Repsol and Safic.  The cylinders were seized by SON during the first quarter of 2019.

Aboloma said that some of the brand new cylinders failed the agency’s mandatory test while others were not manufactured according to the expected specifications.

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He said that some were fairly used cylinders imported into Nigeria without authorisation from SON, which made them contraband goods.

“We are here today to destroy all these cylinders because we cannot allow them to get into the market. They are threats to safety, they are threats to human lives and properties of Nigerians. So, because we cannot burn them, we are cutting them and will thereafter send them to steel plants where they will be recycled for manufacturing of other products,” Aboloma said.

He advised importers to always do the right thing by following the procedures set up by SON for LPG cylinder importation into the country.

The director-general also urged Nigerians to purchase only cylinders with SON registration marks in order to safeguard their homes from fire incidents caused by substandard cylinders.

SON also called for both local and foreign investments into the sector to bring down the importation of LPG cylinders to the barest minimum.

“Many avoidable LPG cylinder explosions across the country had led to a wanton loss of lives and properties. Dealers in LPG cylinders and burners should endeavour to abide strictly by the safety requirements in the relevant Nigeria Industrial Standards, given the potential danger that the substandard cylinders can pose to lives and properties.”

He then revealed that efforts have been intensified to subject LPG cylinders to laboratory tests and analysis to confirm their conformity, stressing that if these cylinders fail critical safety parameters on construction, performance, and markings they will be seized and destroyed.

Source: The Nation

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