News
Mobile app and 24-hour hotline for gas distribution to be made available soon
A mobile app and a 24-hour hotline will be introduced to inform people of the availability of gas in their areas.
This decision was taken by the Committee on Public Enterprise (COPE) on Friday to end growing protests demanding cooking gas.
Litro Gas Chairman Vijitha Herath assured COPE that arrangements were being made to supply 80,000 cylinders daily to the market from yesterday onwards.
He said the supply could be maintained for the next six days as two shipments of cooking gas–each amounting to 3500 metric tonnes–were unloaded this week.
The Indian credit line of US$120 million, due in two weeks, could be used to purchase domestic gas for the next three months, Mr. Herath added. A World Bank loan also could be used to purchase gas, he said. At the moment, the country had a shortage of domestic gas for 350,000 cylinders, he said.
Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe had directed COPE to probe the reason behind the delay in unloading gas shipments, despite Litro Gas promising people that it would begin distribution on Wednesday. It had initially promised to supply 80,000 gas cylinders daily from May 18 onwards.
Accordingly Litro officials and officials of its parent company Sri Lanka Insurance Company (SLIC) were summoned by COPE on Friday to determine the reason behind the delay in unloading the consignment from Oman, even after payments had been made.
It was also learned that Litro Gas had failed to assign bowsers to transport gas from the dock at Colombo Harbour to the Kerawalapitya terminal even by 8pm on Wednesday. It said the delay was due to bad weather. After intense discussions that lasted nearly three hours, COPE directed that a greater percentage of the gas cylinders should be supplied to the Colombo and Gampaha districts.
COPE also focused on procurement methods and pricing, when it was revealed that the company had abandoned tender procedures in procuring gas.
Also, Litro officials claimed that price controls on cooking gas had been lifted, but its claim that the Consumer Affairs Authority had no controls in place was refuted by COPE officials.
A gazette notification issued by the Consumer Affairs Ministry which stated that the price controls on gas had been lifted, was then produced at the meeting. COPE member Dr Harsha Silva said gazette notifications were not legal unless approved by Parliament. A plan to introduce a pricing formula for cooking gas–to reflect the price in the world market–was also discussed.
The unavailability of dollars in commercial banks had been a major contributing factor for the gas shortage. This situation was also discussed.
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