More questions have been raised about the operations of local operator Easygas, which has now confirmed it sent old yellow Enemalta cylinders to Italy to be sandblasted and repainted dark grey.
This comes two days after Easygas also confirmed selling illegal cylinders bearing no serial numbers, claiming this was a faulty batch sent by their Italian supplier.
Easygas’ order for an Italian plant to re-spray the cylinders came just months after the company assured the courts it would not make use of the cylinders until the matter of ownership was decided in court.
Last month, 1,500 yellow cylinders were found at a plant in Padula following a police raid which was requested by competitor Liquigas (the cylinders have since been impounded by the Italian courts).
Easygas initially said the cylinders were sent to Italy for “certification tests” but since the company had no plans to fill the cylinders in the immediate future, they were being kept “in storage” until they were approved.
The Sunday Times has now confirmed that the owner of the Valcollaudi gas plant, Claudio Trezza, told Italian police, under interrogation, that he was ordered by Easygas to sandblast the cylinders, repaint them in Easygas colours and place a ‘property of Easygas’ metal tag on their vaults.
Confronted yesterday, an Easygas spokesman said the cylinders were sent to be “resprayed”, but that this was only to be carried out after a court verdict on cylinder ownership.
Liquigas claims ownership of the cylinders because they were part of the privatisation deal with Enemalta. However, Easygas argues the cylinders belong to the customers who paid a deposit for them. Therefore, after paying customers for these cylinders, Easygas is now the legitimate owner.
“Easygas denies it sent yellow cylinders to a company called Valcollaudi in Italy for immediate respraying in Easygas colours,” the spokesman said.
“Easygas sent these cylinders due to lack of storage space in Malta and requested Valcollaudi to store them until the court recognises that the possessor of a cylinder is also its owner. At that stage Valcollaudi was to respray these cylinders in Easygas colours.
“Had there been any truth in the allegation that Easygas is sending yellow cylinders to be immediately re-sprayed and resent, they would now be in Malta not in Italy. “Easygas deplores these allegations which it strongly believes are coming from Liquigas, which is suffering as a result of the success Easygas is having in the market, and is therefore trying to discredit Easygas.
“While Easygas acknowledges that a batch of the cylinders it purchased were supplied without serial numbers, it categorically denies that any of these faulty cylinders were yellow.”
However, the correspondence provided to the police by Mr Trezza makes no mention of the works having to be delayed and states that “all cylinders have to be re-tested and arranged”.
Meanwhile, the company denies grinding off serial numbers from cylinders – which would be a criminal offence – after the authorities tracked down a number of Easygas cylinders without serial numbers.
During questioning Mr Trezza, from the gas plant, made no reference to grinding off the serial numbers, and there is no such order written in the correspondence provided between Easygas and Valcollaudi.
Last week, the consumer watchdog announced, following investigations, it had tracked down a number of illegal cylinders which bore no serial number.
In a joint statement, the regulator and consumer watchdog said there was “no cause for alarm” because the lack of serial numbers did not render the cylinders unsafe, “provided they are handled and used with caution”.
However, this explanation did not go down well with Liquigas or the Consumers’ Association, which both said that serial numbers were an essential part of traceability, which is, in turn, an important aspect of safety.
The Malta Resources Authority (MRA) and Malta Competition and Consumer Affairs Authority (MCCAA) said the cylinders would be retested and placed back on the market once they were compliant.
In fact, identifying the cylinders through their serial numbers is one of the first steps of the recertification process.
Asked about this point, the MRA provided a legal explanation quoting various EU directives, saying that to be reassessed cylinders require “notified body (third-party) certification”.
The MRA said investigations are ongoing and therefore it refused to give details about whether any other action, besides an enforcement notice, was being taken against Easygas for selling illegal cylinders. Nor has the regulator said how many illegal cylinders had been uncovered.
The MRA has also refused to say whether Easygas would be committing an offence by sandblasting and repainting the cylinders, stating only that the matter of ownership is still being debated in court.
The authority has also not yet explained how cylinders got into the market without serial numbers, despite regulations intended to prevent such an occurrence.