The Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR), has urged cooking gas plant operators in Anambra to adhere to Standard Operations Procedures (SOP) set by the regulatory to ensure safety.
Mr Ignatius Anyanwu, the Operations Controller of DPR in the state gave the charge when he met with representatives of the Nigeria Association of Liquefied Petroleum Gas Marketers (NALPGAM) in Awka on Tuesday.
Anyanwu informed members of the association that the Awka Area Office of DPR was fully operational.
He urged them to ensure that high safety standards were maintained in their operations in the interest of all stakeholders including operators and consumers.
According to him, operators must ensure that they have staff with requisite qualification and training as untrained operators are dangerous to the business and the public.
The operations controller urged the association to ensure that retailers attached to them conducted themselves within the standard guidelines set for their categories.
“The essence of this meeting is to reawaken the consciousness of operators on how they can safely operate gas plants.
“We reintroduced the national SOP guidelines for LPG refilling Gas Plants, they are already aware of it.
“SOP is a requirement for renewal of their license, they are expected to attach their plant- specific SOP that they developed to the document they are submitting to the DPR for approval.
“More importantly, the staff manning the plants must be qualified,’’ he said.
Mr Dubem Muomandu, the Chairman, Anambra chapter of NALPGAM said they were glad to partner with the foremost regulatory agency in the downstream petroleum sector on sustaining standards in their operations.
Muomandu said the association was glad that DPR was now in Anambra, adding that it would take care of their frequent journeys to Enugu for technical assistance, license renewal and other services.
He said abiding to SOP guidelines would enhance the safety of their businesses but regretted that not many gas plant operators were members of NALPGAM in the state.
“We have been looking forward to this meeting with DPR because there is a lot of benefits NALPGAM members are going to get from it and DPR having an office in Anambra is a huge relief to us.
“We have been reminded of the SOP guidelines which has been there before now, we will now go and inform our members about it, safety is paramount in what we do and we are not going to compromise,’’ he said.
