The various entities set up by the government to oversee specific areas of operation which concern citizens, who are also invariably the consumers, are often criticised for their approach towards various issues concerning their remit. Taking the latest case in point, the dispute between the two licensed liquid petroleum gas bottlers, it is very disappointing to note the feeble intervention by the Malta Resources Authority in this issue.

The dispute between Liquigas, the incumbent operator that had taken over liquid petroleum gas operations from Enemalta Corporation around two years ago, and Easygas, the second company to receive the go-ahead from the Malta Resources Authority to operate a gas bottling facility last year, has been ongoing since at least last December.

At the time, Liquigas had objected to the fact that Easygas cylinders were being distributed on the same trucks with its own cylinders since gas distributors have a monopoly over gas distribution in this country according to an agreement reached with Enemalta, when it was still responsible for gas operations, prior to the gas sector being liberalised. Liquigas had inherited this agreement from Enemalta upon taking over its operations and expected gas distributors to refrain from distributing gas cylinders of a competing company.

Eventually, the issue evolved and gas distributors had to refrain from distributing Easygas cylinders but also effectively impeded the same company from setting up its own distribution network on the basis of the exclusive agreement in their possession. The quandary was compounded further when a new disagreement between both gas companies was registered concerning refunds to be paid to clients wishing to switch between providers. Moreover, Easygas has been accused of hoarding around 6,000 of its competitors’ gas cylinders which came into its possession through clients who actually returned Liquigas cylinders to Easygas. The situation came to a head last week when Liquigas ran out of its working stock of gas cylinders. For at least two days last week, no service was provided by gas distributors who could not obtain filled gas cylinders to distribute through the network.

Once Liquigas advised publicly that the working stock of gas cylinders had finished, the Malta Resources Authority took the decision to instruct both companies to advise the exact number of gas cylinders belonging to the rival company they kept in store. Moreover, the authority provided five days during which both companies have to return the cylinders to each other. While the fact that the authority took some sort of action to unblock the situation can be considered as a step in the right direction to alleviate the burden for the consumer, the first attempt can be described as feeble if not downright ineffective.

The authority, which should be overseeing the market and its operations, should have forecasted the current situation, and if not, had ample time to devise a strategy to effectively regulate the sector adequately. The apparent willingness to implement measures for the benefit of the smooth operations of the sector is hard to understand especially when considering that customers have been without an adequate service since last week.