Corruption starts from ministry
KATHMANDU:
Corruption starts from the Ministry of Commerce and Supplies to the board of Nepal Oil Corporation (NOC) and its management, while granting licence to Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) — popularly known as cooking gas — bottling plant, according to the corporation staff.
“A total of 42 gas bottling plants are in operation at present,” Thankot depot chief of the state oil monopoly Mohan Kumar Karki today said, adding that the number of bottling plant is more than needed in a small country like Nepal.
“But the staff at the state oil monopoly are compelled to entertain new gas companies’ applications due to pressure from managing director, he blamed, speaking at the subcommittee of Public Accounts Committee (PAC) under Legislature Parliament to clarify staff involvement in the licence issuing process.
“The Nepal Oil Corporation staff are pressurised from the managing director and managing director is pressurised from the ministry to issue more licence,” he said, declining the direct involvement of Nepal Oil Corporation staff in corruption.
It is the matter of serious concern that Nepal Oil Corporation has issued licence to 23 gas bottling plants within four year tenure of recently ousted managing director Digambar Jha, coordinator of the subcommittee Dhan Raj Gurung said, adding that the motive behind issuing licence to such large number of plants is indeed questionable.
It is found that state oil monopoly has granted licence to gas bottling plants without fulfilling minimum requirement from safety perspective, he said, adding that lives of millions of people are in danger due to irresponsible decision of the corporation.
Meanwhile, the subcommittee has found that equipments that are installed in Amar Gas was of low quality.
“Amar Gas has installed second hand equipments in its bottling plant,” Gurung said, adding that the company cannot ensure quality product.
He also asked the company to be brought under investigation to ensure safety.
The subcommittee is currently preparing its final report after a series of discussions with stakeholders.
Gas bottling plant
LPG bottling plant is a place, where the bottles are kept for storage. The plant should have the facility to receive bulk LP gas from a reliable source. It should be equipped with hydraulic cylinder testing equipment for periodic testing of the cylinders. The filling machines should be provided with pneumatic cut off system to automatically cut off the LPG supply when the cylinder is filled in the bottling plant. The compact valve tester should be calibrated to detect leakage from the cylinder in the bottling plant. The quality control checks at the bottling plants are carried out at three stages — Pre-filling quality control check, post-filling quality control check and statistical quality control checks.
Source: THT
Corruption starts from the Ministry of Commerce and Supplies to the board of Nepal Oil Corporation (NOC) and its management, while granting licence to Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) — popularly known as cooking gas — bottling plant, according to the corporation staff.
“A total of 42 gas bottling plants are in operation at present,” Thankot depot chief of the state oil monopoly Mohan Kumar Karki today said, adding that the number of bottling plant is more than needed in a small country like Nepal.
“But the staff at the state oil monopoly are compelled to entertain new gas companies’ applications due to pressure from managing director, he blamed, speaking at the subcommittee of Public Accounts Committee (PAC) under Legislature Parliament to clarify staff involvement in the licence issuing process.
“The Nepal Oil Corporation staff are pressurised from the managing director and managing director is pressurised from the ministry to issue more licence,” he said, declining the direct involvement of Nepal Oil Corporation staff in corruption.
It is the matter of serious concern that Nepal Oil Corporation has issued licence to 23 gas bottling plants within four year tenure of recently ousted managing director Digambar Jha, coordinator of the subcommittee Dhan Raj Gurung said, adding that the motive behind issuing licence to such large number of plants is indeed questionable.
It is found that state oil monopoly has granted licence to gas bottling plants without fulfilling minimum requirement from safety perspective, he said, adding that lives of millions of people are in danger due to irresponsible decision of the corporation.
Meanwhile, the subcommittee has found that equipments that are installed in Amar Gas was of low quality.
“Amar Gas has installed second hand equipments in its bottling plant,” Gurung said, adding that the company cannot ensure quality product.
He also asked the company to be brought under investigation to ensure safety.
The subcommittee is currently preparing its final report after a series of discussions with stakeholders.
Gas bottling plant
LPG bottling plant is a place, where the bottles are kept for storage. The plant should have the facility to receive bulk LP gas from a reliable source. It should be equipped with hydraulic cylinder testing equipment for periodic testing of the cylinders. The filling machines should be provided with pneumatic cut off system to automatically cut off the LPG supply when the cylinder is filled in the bottling plant. The compact valve tester should be calibrated to detect leakage from the cylinder in the bottling plant. The quality control checks at the bottling plants are carried out at three stages — Pre-filling quality control check, post-filling quality control check and statistical quality control checks.
Source: THT
