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Ewura continues its efforts to raise the standards of the petrol retail
market in Tanzani a and its latest survey concluded that there is a
long way to go.
A countrywide survey conducted by the Energy and Water Utilities
Regulatory Authority (Ewura) , Mr Haruna Masebu, Director General said,
had found many service stations operating below the prescribed
standards. This, he warned, put the safety of motorists at jeopardy, as
the authorities found it difficult to effectively monitor the
operations of the service stations, some of which do not even have
valid business licences. (see PetrolWorld 090508 )
Under the Energy Act, he added, all the operators had been given a
one-year´s grace period, until March 2010 to make the necessary
amendments and fully comply with the new regulations. Addressing editors from various media houses in Dar es Salaam, Mr
Masebu said the old system of licensing fuel dealers was largely to
blame for the current mess. He said that as a result, Ewura could not
guarantee the quality of the products sold at most of the petrol
stations around the country.
Before the enactment of the new law, which became operational on April
1, this year, the Ewura boss added, it was municipal, district and city
councils that licensed the operators of fuel service stations. "As a
result there was a proliferation of fuel service stations, as the
authorities had no proper guidelines for the operators to follow," he
said. However, he said, Ewura had already started operating in
accordance with the requirements of the new law to set standards for
service stations.
The Ewura director for petroleum, Mr Sirili Massay, said they had asked
the Tanzania Bureau of Standards (TBS) to come up with standards for
fuel service stations. "The work is progressing well. The latest
information we have indicates that they (TBS) are in the final stages
of compiling the standards." For its part, Mr Massay added, Ewura had
prepared guidelines under which fuel service stations would be licensed
under the new law and about 40 per cent of the stations, which have
already fulfilled the new conditions have been licensed.
Meanwhile, Ewura has said that the problem of fuel adulteration (see
PetrolWorld 141008 ), which costs the economy and
motorists dearly, with the suspect fuel damaging their vehicles, could
be easily controlled if the government eliminates the big tax
difference on diesel and kerosene. Mr Masebu said many fuel dealers
were tempted to mix diesel with kerosene because the latter attracts
less tax.
Since Ewura officials attended the PetrolWorld Conference in Cape Town
last year and since then many efforts have been made to introduce
operational standards for the petrol retail sector. Mr Massay
also announced that Ewura had recruited seven inspectors who had
managed to reduce the problem of fuel adulteration from 71 per cent to
25 per cent.
PetrolWorld 160909
Other Realted News:
12th March 2009 - Tanzania Sets Priority for Standards for Petorl Stations & Road Tankers
23rd January 2008 - Tanzania Fuel Quality Standards Regulations
Note: There are over 13 news stories related to Ewura in the PetrolWorld Archives
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