Gas mobilization in Lebanon: ticking bombs outside the control and a fast movement required

In a country that stores successive crises, and as the winter season approaches, the file of the gas filling coefficient does not meet the conditions, and the mobile gas tanks between the houses, as one of the most dangerous files on public safety. These laboratories and tanks, which are spread in various Lebanese regions, often work away from international standards and safety standards, to transform in practice into “time bombs” threatening the lives and property of the population.

Union reports indicate that dozens of packing factories operate without licenses or under a fragile legal cover, in the absence of strict control from the relevant ministries, especially energy and internal. Some of these laboratories were established in crowded residential areas, which increases the risks more and make any possible disastrous accident, especially since these laboratories lack the simplest fire protection equipment or modern firefighting systems.
In this context, the captain of the workers and distributors in the gas sector and its supplies in Lebanon, Farid Zenon, confirms in an interview via “Lebanon 24” that the illegal gas filling factor is not the only problem that this sector suffers today, indicating that in addition to this problem here is the phenomenon of entering the gas bottles (Camping) from Syria and China with specifications that do not conform to the standards, in addition to the problem of separating the Ministry of Energy from the Ministry of Industry and the repercussions of this to organize the sector. Its monitoring, and the crisis of the tanks that are not fulfilled by the conditions of public safety and unlicensed companies that operate without safety standards.
Zenon pointed out that all these issues must be the focus of quick measures to follow and inspect the packing factor, which must include all Lebanese lands without exception, because of the belief that the citizen’s safety is the maximum priority, and the need to follow up on the organizational imbalance in the framework of our relentless follow -up to the existing defect in the sector, considering that the dangerous practice of mobilizing gas bottles from tanks directly in residential neighborhoods It requires urgent action of the government in dealing with this dangerous file, which requires immediate and serious move from all the relevant ministries and departments in the Lebanese state.
Zenon called for a circular from the Minister of the Interior to the security forces, governors and municipalities to remove all illegal tanks and not conform to the specifications immediately, in addition to preventing the placement of tanks on the roofs of buildings and stores and using them to fill gas bottles, because of the explicit violation of the law and the risk of public safety, and the arrest of tanks that do not conform to the specifications that pose a moving danger on the roads and life Citizens, and inform all packing companies not to fill any illegal or unlawful vials or vials, under penalty of legal responsibility.
He added: “We have worked to address the supply chain from manufacturing to damage, and the vials corresponding to international specifications and secured the highest safety standards have become available to meet the need of homes and institutions. Replacing unconfirmed bottles is a step of life that protects people and their property.”
He said: “Our duty is for us to continue until the end, and the duty of the state is imperative to move immediately to protect its citizens. Reaching a comprehensive and safe organization for the sector is the only guarantee of the continuity of service without dangers.”
Zenon considered that today is required to update legislation related to the gas sector and their application strictly, in addition to imposing mandatory specifications for the factories and ensuring that they are transferred to industrial areas far from residential communities. It is also assumed that the establishment of a specialized supervisory device equipped with clear powers, whose task is to monitor the laboratories and storage centers periodically, with the imposition of deterrent penalties against violators, indicating that many suggestions will be at the search table in meetings that are expected to be held with the relevant ministers, especially the energy and interior ministers.
On the other hand, the owners of these laboratories justify their work with economic arguments, including the need to secure a source of livelihood, the weak official oversight, and the high cost of modernization that they are unable to bear in light of the financial crisis. However, this justification does not eliminate the size of the risks or the state’s responsibility for controlling chaos.
In recent years, several explosions in warehouses or mobilization centers have been recorded, which have had heavy material victims and losses, to restore the debate each time to the facade without reaching sustainable solutions.
So, many problems that the gas distribution sector in Lebanon suffers from, which is not just an administrative violation, but rather a direct threat to the lives of the Lebanese in light of crises that cannot tolerate a new catastrophe. And between the responsibility of the state and the failure of some of the laboratories, the citizen remains the weakest link, governed by living alongside a danger that may explode at any moment.