John Kioko attends to a customer Kobil petrol station along Koinange station. Photo/Philip kamakya
The Energy Regulatory Commission has shut down four petrol stations for contravening quality standards while eleven others have been fined for not paying the requisite duty to the Kenya revenue Authority.
Fast Energy Service Station Gacharara in Kiambu and Metro Filling Station in Ikonyero, Kakamega were closed after they were found selling petrol contaminated with kerosene.
Bukhayo Filling Station in Shisiru, Kakamega was closed for selling transit diesel meant for export while Sango Filling Sation in Ndalu, Bungoma suffered the same fate for selling petrol and diesel meant for export.
In a press announcement published yesterday the ERC said it conducted a total of 2,251 random tests on 401 petrol stations and 14 of them were found to be non-compliant after failing 17 tests.
Those that were fined were temporarily closed down for periods ranging eight days to over a month. The owners had to pay the required penalties and requisite taxes ranging between Sh380,000 and Sh1.5 million before resuming business.
“The county commissioners were requested to withdraw licenses of operators of the defaulting outlets and defaulters were further required to pay penalties and taxes prescribed under the applicable tax laws before consideration for resumption of business,” said ERC.
Separately safety in the handling of fuels, including liquefied petroleum gas is raising concern with the Petroleum Institute of East Africa warning of increased cases of illegal trade in cooking gas.
PIEA said the Kenyan LPG market has been infiltrated by illegal operators, who have exposed consumers to great risk “by stealing gas cylinders from their owners, filling them which is illegal and selling them off as their own… the integrity of cylinders churned out of such premises is highly questionable.”
It said for every 10 LPG cylinders in the market, 7 are either illegally re-branded, filled illegally, have been tampered with or their contents do not meet stipulated requirements.
“Buy LPG from service stations. If you buy from supermarkets or any other distributor, ask for proof of authorization from the company that owns the brand. Remember to get your receipt,” advised the statement.
