‘Dilapidated LPG tanks can cause fires’

MANILA, Philippines - A party-list lawmaker yesterday warned the public against using dilapidated liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) cylinders, saying they can cause fires.

LPG Marketers Association Rep. Arnel Ty said there are about six million worn-out cooking gas containers circulating in the market.

“There’s no question these worn-out LPG cylinders, which are at least 10 years old, have contributed in a big way to the rash of deadly accidental fires in homes and commercial establishments,” he said. “These tanks may be substandard or defective already. Yet, they are still being sold to and used by consumers.”

Ty said these cylinders should have been “re-qualified” as the Bureau of Product Standards requires.

Re-qualification refers to the proper inspection, testing and restoration, or scrapping of a cylinder. Shops accredited by the Department of Trade and Industry do the re-qualification.

“In the interest of public safety, we have to methodically collect these decaying cylinders. This is one sure way to promote the safe consumption of LPG,” Ty said.

He said the wholesale removal of aging cylinders from the market would allow LPG consumers and the industry to start with a clean slate.

“Thailand did this. Their national government carried out a one-time cy­linder exchange program in 2001. They succeeded in gathering some 1.2 million rundown tanks. Many of the tanks were scrapped and destroyed. Others were fully reconditioned,” he said.

Ty is author of the proposed LPG Regulation and Safety Act, which seeks the replacement of all cylinders that are in bad condition.

Approved by the 55-member House trade and industry committee, the bill includes a one-time LPG cylinder exchange, swapping, and rehabilitation program for the benefit of consumers possessing poor-quality LPG tanks.

The bill likewise sets adequate strategies to ensure that every LPG tank coming out of a refilling plant has gone through safety or re-qualifying tests.