Zahran’s cousins?

One may wonder whether those who run gas companies are the cousins of Zahran, the savage, who organised the Easter Sunday explosions if what has been reported of their products is anything to go by. Zahran and his fellow terrorists blasted three churches and three hotels, killing more than 270 others, in 2019. His fat-cat cousins in the gas business, as it were, are certainly not terrorists on a suicidal mission, but they are likely to cause an explosion in every house and every hotel, where their products are used, we are told. Several explosions caused by cooking gas have been reported from different parts of the country during the past few weeks. The situation is bound to take a turn for the worse unless remedial action is taken urgently, former Executive Director of the Consumer Affairs Authority (CAA) Thushan Gunawardena has warned.

Gunawardena, a whistle-blower in distress, has gone on record as saying that the butane-propane ratio in the gas sold here has been arbitrarily changed, and the current mix is not suitable for a tropical climate. It has been reported that he consulted international specialists in the field and wrote a letter, based on their advice, to Trade Minister Bandula Gunawardena, a few moons ago, calling for action, but in vain.

Litro Gas Lanka Ltd., has rejected Gunawardena’s allegation, claiming that there has been no change in the butane-propane ratio in the gas it sells. Its production process conforms to internationally accepted standards, it has said.

The public must be really confused. The former CAA Executive Director tells them domestic gas cylinders are potential bombs, and the gas company officials insist that there is no such danger. Will Litro reveal the percentages of butane and propane in its cylinders at present, and what they were a few years ago?

Zahran and his fellow terrorists were able to carry out the Easter Sunday bomb attacks because the then government did not heed the warnings of impending explosions. A foreign intelligence outfit provided all necessary information about Zahran and even his targets in advance, but nobody gave a tinker’s cuss about it. A warning has been given that there is the danger of more gas cylinder explosions, and it too has gone unheeded.

Going by Gunawardena’s letter to the Trade Minister, perhaps Prabhakaran and Zahran would not have taken the trouble of training their suicide cadres and planning bomb attacks on civilian targets if they had been aware that the butane-propane ratio in cooking gas would be changed; they would have left the task of blasting civilian targets to gas companies.

The present-day leaders never miss an opportunity to glory in having ended the country’s war on terror, during which the parents of a family did not travel together lest their children should be orphaned in case of a bomb blast killing both of them. But, today, mothers must be scared of stepping into their kitchens because of the gas cylinders.

Seeking the views of gas company officials about the safety of their products is like asking for the help of a female clairvoyant to catch a thief who happens to be her own son, as a local saying goes. Let the government be urged to order a thorough probe into former CAA Executive Director Gunawardena’s dire warning and take immediate action to ensure the safety of gas consumers if the gas companies have effected any changes to the composition of cooking gas.

It will be a mistake for the government to have the whistle-blower harassed again instead of acting on his warning. We are not short of independent, civic-minded experts, and it is hoped that they will care to analyze the cooking gas available here and tell the public whether it is safe.