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No end to gas shortage

13 Jul 2022

  • Tense situations at LPG distribution centres’ queues
BY Buddhika Samaraweera The liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) shortage in the country is yet to be resolved, and tense situations near LPG distribution centres and people waiting in long queues to buy LPG can still be observed. A gas distribution centre in the Peliyagoda area had received gas cylinders yesterday (12) and a tense situation erupted when several police officers came and obtained more than five cylinders. At that time, a large number of people were seen waiting in a queue near the said centre and they alleged that the police officers had come and obtained five LPG cylinders without waiting in the queue. A police officer who had been deployed for security at the said LPG distribution centre was also confronted by the people. They claimed that although an injustice had been caused to those who had been waiting in the queue for days, the police officer who was stationed at the centre had not taken any action when other police officers came and obtained cylinders. Furthermore, people are still seen waiting in queues to buy LPG. In particular, people allege that the sales centres located in the Colombo District have received a significant amount of LPG cylinders, but that the supply to other provinces is still not being carried out. As a result, people in many areas such as Galle, Ratnapura, Kegalle, and Anuradhapura are still waiting in queues to procure LPG cylinders. Litro Gas Lanka Ltd. announced early this week that the distribution of domestic gas cylinders for Colombo and its suburbs would commence on Monday (11), while the distribution for other areas would commence from today (13). In order to prevent the possible hoarding of gas cylinders, the company has asked consumers to produce the electricity bill for the month of May when purchasing gas. Meanwhile, Litro Gas Lanka Ltd. Chairman Muditha Peiris, speaking to the media on Monday, said that the amount of gas which would be distributed to other parts of the country would be more than the amount distributed in Colombo. Noting that stocks of gas sufficient for all consumers have now been ordered, he said that the people would not have to wait in queues to buy gas in the coming days.  “For some of the shipments, we have already made the relevant payments. In addition, we have come to an agreement with the relevant supplier under the monetary aid provided by the World Bank. With all these, we can say with great responsibility that the shortage of gas would completely end by 31 July,” he said. Gas supply has been severely affected due to the prevailing economic crisis caused by the shortage of foreign reserves in the country. As a result, State-owned Litro Gas Lanka, on several occasions, halted the supply of gas, and over the past few months, consumers were seen standing in long queues for days on end in order to obtain gas cylinders.


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