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Quality of gas hoses, regulators, still spotty
Chicken noodle hawker Nono turned to his own resourcefulness when he received the gas conversion program’s free kit, which he considered low quality
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hicken noodle hawker Nono turned to his own resourcefulness when he received the gas conversion program’s free kit, which he considered low quality.
The hose was thinly-walled while the regulator was a botched fit with the melon-shaped canister, he said about the kit that he obtained in Jakarta.
He immediately replaced the faulty accessories, keeping only the canister, which he still uses.
“I bought a 1-meter length of hose used for welding for Rp 30,000 [US$ 3.3] and a regulator for Rp 80,000. Then I attached them to the canister myself,” he said.
He added that his kit had held up well since the hose “has not shown signs of wear”.
The government, through local administrations, distributed free kits consisting of a stove, hose, regulator and 3-kilogram LPG canister to low-income households in 2007 to end large subsidies for kerosene as Indonesia’s main fuel for cooking.
As of last month, there have been at least 95 explosions, 22 deaths and 131 injuries and 55 houses damaged in gas explosions in Greater Jakarta and West Java.
The city fire department and disaster agency said that between January and July there were 40 LPG explosions.
Another hawker, Agus, said he received a durable LPG set in Bogor at the beginning of the conversion period.
“I have not changed the original hose since this one’s still good,” he said.
“I only changed the regulator since it wore off after a year of use. I bought a new one for Rp 78,000.”
Worn hoses expand from their original size while worn regulators would not fit properly on the canister’s valve, Agus said.
Agus and Nono said they knew of at least three different hoses on the market, which Nono described as “an orange-colored one, a larger hose in orange too, and a black one”.
The variety of dubious equipment mirrors the botched quality standards in the market that the government supposedly controls.
An updated study conducted by the Consumer Protection Agency showed that all hoses, two-thirds of canister check valves, half of all stoves, 20 percent of regulators and 7 percent of canisters did not meet safety standards.
As a result, many parties have pinned the blame on the government regarding the recent spate of gas canister explosions.
The government reacted by holding a Cabinet meeting with Vice President Boediono. They decided to recall hoses after learning that the products had an estimated life expectancy of two years.
Yet many vendors report that they were unaware the hoses had expiry dates for hoses.
Ati, a gas canister vendor for 15 years in Taman Sari, West Jakarta, said hoses had no expiry dates.
“I have stocked some hoses for a year,” she told The Jakarta Post. “None of my customers have complained about the quality.”
She added that she did not receive any notice from her agent regarding the distribution of hoses by state energy company PT Pertamina.
As previously reported, PT Pertamina planned to distribute supposedly better hoses on Tuesday to its main agents for redistribution to the public. However, the start of the distribution was postponed on the given day.
Currently, most vendors get their hoses and regulators from independent suppliers, who flood the market with goods of various quality and price.
“I offer two types of hoses. The expensive ones cost up to Rp 70,000 while the cheap ones cost around Rp. 50,000,” Ati said. “Regulators cost around Rp 25,000.”
She added that although her goods carried Indonesian National Standards (SNI) labels, prices indicated the item’s durability.
Most of the packaging boast SNI labels printed directly on it or on stickers with the SNI logo and a registration number.
“The cheap items wear out quite quickly, but only a few buyers purchase the hardier expensive ones,” she said.
Arya Rezavidi, a director for technology conservation at the Agency for Assessment and Application of Technology (BPPT), said a study by his agency’s found that most of the explosions occurred because of leakages in the canister’s valve.
The agency, according to Arya, believed that the leakage occurred because of a failure during the canister production process.
“As of today, we don’t have a specific study looking into whether such valve leakage was triggered by other reasons, like illegal gas injections,” he said. (gzl)
