Interior Ministry on Wednesday, March 29, announced an 11-day ultimatum for Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) and petroleum businesses countrywide to comply with a new directive.
The operators were given 11 days starting from Tuesday, April 3 to Friday, April 14 to register their businesses.
Immediately after the deadline is elapsed, the Interior Ministry will swing into action and begin deregistering LPG and petroleum businesses.
“The State Department for Internal Security and National Administration in collaboration with the State Department for Petroleum is pleased to announce the launch of a nationwide LPG and Petroleum business registration exercise.
“The registration drive aims to enhance the management and regulation of LPG and petroleum businesses in the country and will involve the collection of data and information from all LPG and petroleum businesses,” a statement from Interior Principal Secretary Raymond Omollo read in part.
On why the sudden registration exercise, the Ministry revealed, “The exercise will help to ensure that all LPG and petroleum operators are compliant with safety regulations, thereby minimizing the risk of accidents and protecting the public.”
In a terse statement, the government announced that it was a mandatory registration exercise.
“Upon expiry of the registration period, all unregistered LPG and petroleum businesses will be deemed to be non-operational,” Omollo warned.
The registration exercise will be conducted in all sub-counties by National Government Administration Officers (NGAOs) in collaboration with the Energy and Petroleum Regulatory Authority (EPRA).
The listing exercise was announced the same day that EPRA announced a crackdown in Nairobi for businesses selling LPG illegally.
The authority revealed it had already shut down 21 facilities that were deemed not to have followed stipulated rules and regulations in operating an LPG business.
“We have visited over 50 LPG sites and have cracked down 21 illegal LPG facilities in Nairobi under the Rapid Results Initiative (RRI).
“To ensure the safety of the general public and consumers of LPG and petroleum, the illegal sites have been shut down,” a statement from EPRA read in part.
However, the LPG registration notice raised eyebrows with many wondering why the Interior Ministry had taken over the energy function.
