Pertamina Withdraws Two Million Faulty Gas Cylinders

Jakarta, Indonesia (News Today) - State oil and gas company Pertamina has withdrawn around 2 million faulty 3-kg gas cylinders from circulation in response to a string of gas cylinder explosions in the country, Vice President Boediono said.

"I have just been informed that nearly 2 million 3-kg gas cylinders have been replaced with new ones," he said when inspecting a gas cylinder crisis center at the Pertamina head office here on Monday.

Boediono said as long as Pertamina still found faulty 3-kg gas cylinders they would be withdrawn and replaced with new ones. The gas cylinders would be re-checked, he said adding if they did not meet requirements they would be withdrawn.

The government will soon pull out nearly 9 million 3-kg gas cylinders which do not meet the Indonesian National Standard (SNI). Coordinating Minister for People’s Welfare Agung Laksono said earlier the faulty 3-kg gas cylinders would be withdrawn when they were refilled at Pertamina depots.

The government had asked Pertamina to hold the circulation of the 9 million gas cylinders, Agung said. He said the withdrawal of the nine million gas cylinders did not mean that they had low quality but they did not meet the SNI because they were imported from Australia and Japan.

Data from the National Certification Board (BSN) suggest that most of 3-kg gas cylinders procured under the first phase of kerosene-to-gas conversion program was problematic. The Indonesian Consumers’ Protection Foundation (YLKI) said earlier nearly 66 percent of 44 million 3-kg gas cylinders, 50 percent of gas stoves, 20 percent of nozzles and even 100 percent of hoses of the first package were defective.

Source : kompas

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