In an act demonstrative of civic responsibility, Mr Romain Khan recently pointed to a lacuna in the handling of cooking gas cylinders. Given the recent spate of cases of fires erupting around gas cylinders, one of which claimed the lives of a Foulis couple, it was an important contribution. It requires some type of recognition and rectification by the authorities.
In a letter in the January 29th edition of Stabroek News, Mr Khan said he had raised with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in May 2024 whether it was the authority with jurisdiction over the gas cylinders trade and by what codified standards of enforcement. He had done this as he had grown concerned about the manner of the storage of cylinders. The response from the EPA read: “Thank you for your email. However, at this time, the Agency has no standards on the subject matter. The Guyana National Bureau of Standards (GNBS) is the agency responsible for setting standards for the Storage, Handling and Transportation of Liquefied Petroleum Gas Cylinders…”
Accordingly, he said that he contacted the GNBS with the same inquiry and elicited the following response: “The GNBS has a standard GYS 264, Specification for the storage, handling and transportation of LPG cylinders. The Scope of this standard is ‘This standard applies to the storage and handling of portable containers used for storage of Liquefied Petroleum Gases (LPG) and to the transportation of these containers… Though this standard was developed through the GNBS Standardisation process, the GNBS do not monitor this product/implementation of the requirements outlined in the standard”.
He said that he sought clarification about which government agency was statutorily empowered to enforce the standard and it was confirmed that “The GNBS does not have the responsibility to enforce this standard” nor the knowledge “as to which agency has the responsibility.” Having this information, he said that it was perplexing that the EPA did not have a more pivotal role in this environmentally sensitive matter. Further, he was perturbed that even though the GNBS had developed a draft standard, it had neither enforcement powers nor awareness of the enforcing agency.
“The impression conveyed was one of bureaucratic dishevelment or `organizing stupidity’ to invoke David Graeber’s `The Utopia of Rules: On Technology, Stupidity and the Secret Joys of the Bureaucracy’”, he wrote.
He added that his input on the matter was not to diminish the industriousness of bureaucrats who make an exceptional difference in the public service but to highlight a “systemic and corrosive malaise”.
He asked: “Did the state ever designate such a statutory authority, and if not, could questions of state liability arise in respect of the constitutional guarantees of public welfare, public safety, public order, and public health?”
Mr Khan’s interest in this mater was piqued after Stabroek News reported on January 25th this year that four agencies: the EPA, the Guyana Energy Agency, the Guyana Fire Service and the GNBS, had met on January 24th to coordinate efforts aimed at reviewing the recent series of suspected cooking gas cylinder-related explosions across the country.
A release from the EPA on the meeting said that discussions focused on sharing findings and actions taken by the respective agencies with the aim of “identifying key strategic actions and engagement of the various stakeholders”.
As immediate first steps, the meeting agreed as follows:
-All Agencies involved will continue their inspections and investigations of the various facilities and components in keeping with their respective mandates.
-The Agencies will share their respective reports, findings and recommendations.
-Following the review of the respective inspections, investigations and recommendations, the agencies will prepare a report with an appropriate action plan, inclusive of safety measures for suppliers of the products, vendors and consumers.
A follow-up meeting was planned for January 28, 2025.
The EPA press release did not address the natter which Mr Khan raised about the management of gas cylinders. What was notable about the press release was that the meeting did not involve the Ministry of Tourism, Industry and Commerce whose Competition and Consumer Affairs Commission (CCAC) had announced on January 6th this year that it had launched an investigation of the gas cylinder events. The CCAC is still to provide the results of its investigation.
One can’t help but surmise that the January 28th meeting was an ex post facto attempt to address a matter that the bureaucracy stretching across various ministries and agencies had failed to address even though one agency, the GNBS had gone as far as developing a relevant standard.
The silence on who has enforcement responsibility is loud but not louder than the silence on the investigation into these very serious fires and explosions around gas cylinders. The public awaits answers.
