By Chernor Alimamy Kamara
The Petroleum Regulatory Authority (PRA) has sealed the Conex fuel station in Grafton for selling fuel above the government recommended price of NLE 30 per litre.
According to PRA License and Inspection Director, Jaiah Muana, they decided to seal the station after receiving a social media video that went viral showing a pump attendant insisting in selling fuel in jerry cans (containers) rather than to vehicles, and well above the official price. Juana stressed that the act of selling fuel above the government price and in jerry cans was a breach of the authority’s regulations.
He added that they will at the same time revoke the station’s license for this year followed by a NLE 50 (fifty thousand New Leones) fine for breaching the regulations.
“This is a lesson I want all the retailers to know that when once they breach PRA regulations, we will take action against you,” he said. Director Muana noted that once a license is revoked, should the management want to renew it again, fresh terms will have to be negotiated as a new dealer.
He said that if the station is to operate again after paying the fine, they have to go through several changes like a change in administration due to the fact that the particular dealer or manager that breached the regulations cannot uphold the principles of the Authority.
He stated that the action the PRA took could happen to any other station that fails to abide by the Authority’s regulations, not just for Conex. He confirmed that there are enough fuel products in the country that will last up to the second or third week of July. He warned fuel dealers to abide by the authority’s regulations and to get the country at heart rather than always exploiting the ordinary masses.
There have been long queues of vehicles in fuel stations across the country, creating artificial fuel scarcity even though PRA had earlier announced that there is no fuel scarcity in the country and that they have no plan of increasing fuel prices yet.
The Petroleum Regulatory Authority is mandated to regulate and monitor the petroleum downstream industry for growth and efficiency.
Copyright © 2024 Politico (29/05/24)
