Pertamina replaces substandard LPG canisters

JAKARTA: State oil and gas company PT Pertamina will need about Rp 1.7 trillion (US$190 million) in budget to replace substandard 3-kilogram LPG canisters distributed to poor households.

Irnanda Lhaksanawan, the deputy of strategic industry for cooperatives and small and medium enterprises minister, said that the money would be used to replace about 10 million LPG canisters which had not meet the SNI national industrial standard.

 “The gas stations will exchange the faulty canisters with the new ones to be provided by Pertamina,” he added. It was reported that during the period between 2007 and June, 2010 there were at least 95 cases of fires caused by explosions of LPG canisters in Greater Jakarta and West Java, causing , 22 deaths, 131 hospitalizations and left 55 houses damaged.

The explosion occurred mostly on the 3-kilogram LPG canisters, which were distributed without carrying the SNI certificates. — JP