Gas operator Easygas has hit back at its competitor, for exposing that it sold cylinders without serial numbers, claiming Liquigas “could well be selling large numbers of unsafe yellow cylinders”.

“The real danger in this country is the circulation of cylinders not properly re-certified”- Easygas

Easygas last week commissioned engineer Fabio Stivala to conduct an “unbiased” study on the stock of 4,128 former Enemalta cylinders collected from customers who switched providers.

Mr Stivala picked 100 cylinders at random and found that 89 of them were manufactured more than 10 years ago and had no signs of having been retested. “None of them had a tag, label or punched date of retesting on the steel tank body,” he said.

In some cases, the cylinders were more than 20 years old – even dating back to 1987 – and bear a Liquigas sticker, indicating they were circulated to customers after 2009 (when Liquigas took over from Enemalta).

“The real danger in this country is the circulation of cylinders not properly re-certified, whereas those without a serial number are, as the regulator said, no cause for public alarm,” an Easygas spokesman insisted.

“We have written to the regulator about the fact that our competitor, Liquigas, could well be selling large numbers of unsafe yellow cylinders... We have commenced safety tests to see which have been re-certified in a proper and timely manner. Initial studies suggest that a high percentage of yellow cylinders are unsafe.”

In his report, Mr Stivala pointed out that a cylinder with a date tag but no nameplate (serial number) was a tested but untraceable vessel: “Safe for use but illegal”. However, a cylinder with clear nameplate details but an expired test due date was “unsafe and illegal”.

Liquigas has not denied circulating cylinders that were not retested but explained that such practice had been inherited from Enemalta and, as part of the privatisation agreement, it undertook to change this.

Enemalta, the state gas monopoly before the sector was privatised, said regular maintenance was always performed on its cylinders and those unfit for use were immediately scrapped. The company scrapped about 14,000 cylinders a year, it said.

According to the contractual obligations agreed upon in the commercialisation process, Liquigas recertified 50,000 cylinders annually. Moreover, Enemalta, which still controls the bottling plant in Qajjenza said: “The filling process has ensured a number of technical procedural safeguards. Upon entry into the plant, all cylinders are inspected.

Those cylinders that are not of an acceptable condition are immediately scrapped. This is followed by a series of technical inbuilt checks during the filling process.”

“The re-certification is an international requirement for a transportable pressure vessel. As stated above, the filling process has always ensured a number of technical procedural safeguards.”

Liquigas accused Easygas of trying to confuse the public by deflecting attention from its own illegal practices being investigated by the Italian and Maltese police. Liquigas claims that Easygas sent Enemalta cylinders to Italy to have their serial numbers grinded off and the cylinders repainted in dark grey.

Easygas admitted to sending them to Italy for storage and eventual respraying them but denies grinding serial numbers.

Liquigas also accused Easygas of “engineering” its report about cylinders on the market that were not retested.

“During the privatisation negotiations, Enemalta and Liquigas agreed to address the backlog of recertification of cylinders. As a result, through a specific clause of the agreement drawn up with the government, Liquigas undertook to retest 50,000 cylinders per year until the backlog was cleared. All this is public knowledge as it was tabled in Parliament.”

“It has always been the practice in Malta to scrap any cylinders that are not of an acceptable condition following certain technical inspections during the filling process. Overdue cylinders for testing are identified and selected for testing at the plant and before filling. This is the accepted industry practice,” it added.

Liquigas said it had already sent 72,000 cylinders for retesting and scrapped 23,000. An additional 10,000 would be sent for retesting by the end of this year.

“Liquigas is diligently fulfilling its commitment (on taking over from Enemalta) to retest all cylinders acquired from Enemalta. This is a greatly unappreciated benefit of privatisation.

This process is also being monitored by the competent authorities. Furthermore, since Liquigas took over the business, it has bought more than 115,000 new cylinders to replenish the market.”

Liquigas did not clarify how the cylinders that the engineer said had no proof of being retested ended up on the market.

Both the Malta Resources Authority and the Malta Competition and Consumer Affairs Authority have both dismissed Easygas’ claims. They pointed out that the directives calling for retesting came into force in 2003, so those that were placed on the market before did not have to be tested. However, the operators took responsibility for them.

The MRA’s chief executive, Anthony Rizzo, who headed Enemalta before the gas sector privatisation, confirmed Enemalta performed regular maintenance on cylinders.

The Times is informed that Easygas’ allegations would not be investigated.

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