By Franklin P.
Gumapon
DIPOLOG CITY, Nov. 22 (PIA) – A staff from the
Department of Energy’s Mindanao Field Office (DOE-MFO) in Davao City has
reported that around 60 percent of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) dealers in
Zamboanga del Norte including its twin cities of Dipolog and Dapitan were violating
certain regulations in LPG business.
Supervising Science
Research Specialist Edmar A. Derla of DOE-MFO told the participants in a forum on
downstream oil industry held here recently that the results of the inspection
conducted by his team to LPG dealers in the province revealed that majority of
them had failed to comply with the rules and regulations set by the government.
Moreover, Derla
disclosed that 50 percent of liquid petroleum product (LPP) dealers were also found
to have committed certain violations of the regulations governing the industry.
He, however, refused to name these violators.
DOE had set
penalties for every violation ranging from reprimand to a fine of P10,000.
The downstream oil
industry forum, which was organized by the DOE in partnership with the
Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP) and the
city government of Dipolog, were attended by city/municipal treasurers of the
different local government units of Zamboanga del Norte, representatives from
the academe, national government agencies (NGAs), civil societies, and
consumers group, gasoline dealers, bus/jeepney operators and LPG dealers.
As part of DOE’s
information, education and communication campaign, the forum sought to promote
public safety, consumer protection, fair trade practices and to strengthen
alliance between and among concerned government agencies. (JPA/FPG/PIA-Zamboanga
del Norte)