26th July 2010. Jakarta (ANTARA News) - The government will re-examine the technical specifications of nine million 3kg gas canisters to ensure that they meet the Indonesian National Standardization (SNI) requirements, a senior official said. "We don`t withdraw them but re-examine canisters which do not carry SNI labels," Metal, Machinery and Textile Director General Anshari Bukhri said here on Monday.
He said that a total of nine million 3kg gas canisters produced between 2007 and November 2008 did not carry SNI labels because at the time the decree that required canisters to attach SNI labels had not yet been issued. The director general said that actually the 3kg canisters which did not carry SNI labels had similar specifications to those with the SNI labels. Even, canisters imported by Pertamina from China at the beginning of the kerosene-to-gas conversion program also met the SNI standard. "But it is not impossible that there are also illegal 3kg canisters circulated by third parties and do not attach the SNI labels because canister trade is open in nature and could be sold everywhere," Bukhari said.
Therefore, he supported the idea to allow Pertamina to distribute canisters in a closed way, including its import and trade. At home there are about 70 producers of 3kg gas cylinders with national production capacity of 74 million per annum. The government introduced its kerosene-to-LPG conversion policy in mid 2007 as part of its efforts to reduce kerosene subsidy in the state budget, and provided the poor with 3 kg-gas canisters plus stoves for free.
The number of 3-kg cylinders distributed so far had reached about 60 million units from the 45 million packages which were distributed since 2007. Substandard products have caused fatalities among the public. The government noted that in 2007, there were five cases of gas canister explosions with injured victims. In 2008 there were 27 cases with two dead and 35 injured while in 2009 there were 30 blasts killing 12 victims and injuring 48 others. Up to June 2010, a total of 33 blasts with 8 dead and 44 injured have been recorded.(*)
