Liquigas has called on the authorities to act against the hoarding of cylinders by Easygas.

In a statement, Liquigas said that the issue of a lack of cylinders has been largely created by Easygas, whch has been hoarding thousands of Liquigas' green and yellow cylinders.

Liquigas, it said, was doing its part and was investing heavily in purchasing new cylinders. Since November 2009, it bought and put on the Maltese market 56,000 new cylinders - an average of 3,300 new cylinders per month in 17 months.

The company said that as part of its ongoing commitment to quality and safety, last year it started a retesting exercise to ensure that cylinders complied with EU and local regulations.

For the last four months, it said, it had constantly asked the authorities to respect, enforce and ensure that Liquigas cylinders were returned to their rightful owners.

Easygas, Liquigas said, had been picking up its cylinders from the market and not returning them in spite of a number of requests from Liquigas.

"We can't go on in this way. Liquigas understands and would like to express its concern for the gas distributors.

"We can buy as many cylinders as we can, but if the hoarding by Easygas is not stopped by the authorities, the problem is going to persist," Liquigas CEO Roberto Capellutto said.

"The immediate priority is that the authorities take action and order the immediate release of the Liquigas cylinders hoarded by Easygas," he said.