(Business in Cameroon) - In 2015, domestic gas distributors who continue to disregard standards governing their sector will be hit with monitoring teams who will be on their heels at the start of the year. This was revealed on September 1 in Yaoundé during an information and awareness session between the Director General of the Standards and Quality Agency, Charles Boto’o à Ngon and gas distributors.

In the last meeting which had hints of being a warning, ANOR heads insisted on the strict observance of the authorised quantities to be sold which have been declining due to the new pastime of profit-greedy domestic gas distributors by cheating on the age and technical make-up of the cylinders which should normally keep consumers out of harm’s way.

But unfortunately, in addition to complaints about tampering with cylinders, households are also facing real danger caused by defective cylinders exploding. From this point of view, a report published in 2011 after a monitoring visit conducted jointly by the Metrology and Consumer Protection Directorate of the Ministry of Trade and the Hydrocarbon Price Stabilisation Fund (CSPH) revealed that “70% of gas cylinders being used in the country are defective.”

Since this time, only Tradex, the newcomer to the market, and Oilybia have officially announced that they would be renewing their packaging. Meanwhile, many other distributors, including the market leader, Société camerounaise de transformation métallique (SCTM), have often been accused of using outdated packaging or importing cylinders that do not meet the required security standards.