BERA green lights LPG body formation
The Botswana Energy Regulatory Authority (BERA) has given the go-ahead for Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) industry players to form an association to act as a body for membership of corporations in the gas sector.
Once formed, the association is expected will benefit consumers by ensuring proper service standards.
Speaking at a recently held virtual meeting on the formation of the association, BERA CEO, Rose Seretse implored the LPG industry to formalise its operations. She said this is in a bid to speak with one voice adding that the body will also provide an extended hand to assist BERA on issues of enforcement, compliance and overall regulation of the market.
“We believe the association should be able to assist by guiding and encouraging its members to uphold high standards of safety and commercial business practice and ensure that they conduct their business with due regard for safety, health and environmental issues. It is our considered view that the association will cultivate the right motives, professionalism, and integrity as well as credibility in the conduct of business operations,” she said.
“I believe these lessons will help our LPG industry as you navigate the path to establishing and operating a sound, efficient and effective association.”
BERA Chief Operations Officer, Duncan Morotsi revealed the Gas Study they conducted has laid bare a lack of compliance, environmental impact issues and what seemed like rampant collusion and predatory practices. He said BERA will ensure there is cohesion with industry players to weed out undesirable elements as well as reinforcing fair play and consumer protection. “Recently, the LPG industry in Botswana was plunged into a series of consumer complaints after one of the players closed its operations, which adversely affected the industry. These are some of the issues we expect to have mitigated through the association once it is formed,” Morotsi said. For his part, the LPG representative, James Phagane admitted to the challenges and pointed to several issues that have recently impacted the industry.
These being civil unrests where they import, which led to refinery shutdowns, forcing them to look elsewhere at added costs. He said this has further been exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic, where border closures are the norm while regulations change frequently.
Phagane further admitted many deficiencies on their side which emanate from non-compliance. He called for public awareness for members of the public to know their rights and demand better service.
Phagane added the association will address issues such as illegal filling of cylinders and the trend of hoarding or repainting competitors’ cylinders. Phagane also promised of finally weeding out rogue operators to better serve customers.
It is expected that with the assistance of BERA the association will be in place soon. There will also be robust engagement with the public for them to receive services that are reliable, safe, and affordable.