Gas distributors held a protest this morning, complaining about surprise inspections of their properties by officials from the Malta Resources Authority.
Joe Attard, a representative of the GRTU, said the MRA had been strong with the weak and weak with the strong. He said the MRA officials turned up unannounced at the homes of the gas distributors to verify how many gas cylinders they had. In contrast, the operators - Liquigas and Easyhas - were given prior notice before the inspectors turned up to verify the number of gas cylinders in their possession.
He warned that the government and the MRA needed to change course and consult the gas distributors, unless they wanted a dispute with the GRTU.
The distributors held their protest by driving their trucks in a long 'truckcade' through several localities.
They left from Marsa and headed towards Valletta at about 8 a.m. A large contingent of policemen at Portes des Bombes diverted them down to Msida. They then proceeded through Hamrun to Marsa, ending their protest outside the offices of the Malta Resources Authority.
The drivers also held a protest outside the MRA offices on Monday, insisting that the MRA needs to ensure that there is security in the supply of gas cylinders. Many of them ended up without cylinders for four days when Liquigas said it had run out of cylinders, blaming rival Easygas for hoarding them. A fresh consignment of cylinders was imported three days ago.
Easygas has admitted being in possession of almost 2,000 cylinders (and not 6,000 as claimed by Liquigas). The MRA yesterday said Easygas will be fined €25,000 if the cylinders are not returned within five days. Easygas is disputing the order, arguing that in terms of the law, it bought the cylinders from consumers.
Meanwhile, in its reaction, the MRA said it was not true that Easygas or Liquigas had been informed about the inspectors’ visit, saying the inspections were surprise inspections.
Moreover, the authority said that it had informed all concerned that the declarations would be verified. On the visits to the distributors’ houses, the MRA said it carried out the inspections at the address the distributors’ provided on their licence.