Gas distributors do not exclude going on strike next week unless they are updated on the outcome of a consumer watchdog probe into an agreement that grants them exclusive distribution zones.

By the end of this week we want to know, otherwise we take action. It seems distributors are only listened to when they stamp their feet

The director of the Chamber for Small and Medium Enterprises – GRTU said the authorities had until the end of the week to inform the distributors if the agreement was still binding.

Asked if he was excluding a freeze in the distribution system, Mr Attard replied: “I don’t exclude it at all.”

Mr Attard explained that at the beginning of the year, the Malta Competition and Consumer Affairs Authority had been asked by one of the gas importers to investigate the agreement, reached in 1992 with Enemalta’s Gas Division.

This gave each of 30 gas distributors in Malta and Gozo an exclusive territory, which is the system currently in force.

However, since then, distributors had heard nothing and had not been informed about the outcome of this investigation and whether their livelihood was guaranteed, he said.

“We cannot be left hanging. We have been waiting for far too long now. We want to know what the authority decided. Is the agreement legal? Is it binding? Is it partially legal? Is it null and void? These are the questions we want answered.”

The distributors have been insisting that the Government and the two importers of gas – Liquigas and Easygas – should continue to honour the agreement.

Last year, the gas distributors had again threatened to strike over proposed changes to the distribution system.

They had said that if the Government wanted to do away with the agreement, they should be paid compensation, as it had done with bus owners.

They were willing to sell gas for both suppliers but wanted to retain the present system of exclusive distribution zones.

This year, they want to know whether the agreement, which one of the importers is contesting, is actually legal and if it will be retained.

“We need a decision on this agreement because every time we try to see where we stand in terms of distribution, we are told there is a pending investigation.

“Our future depends on this investigation and we need to know its outcome or, at least, a timeline of when we will have a decision,” Mr Attard said when contacted yesterday.

Asked whether they were giving some form of ultimatum, Mr Attard said: “By the end of this week we surely want to know, otherwise we have to take action.

“It seems gas distributors are only listened to when they stamp their feet.”