Council welcomes gas price reduction

The Consumer Council of Fiji has welcomed the latest announcement made on price reduction of Liquid Petroleum Gas (LPG) around the country.

The announcement was made by Commerce Commission chair Dr Mahendra Reddy last week which saw the reduction of gas prices after an extensive study conducted by the Commission.

Council chief executive Premila Kumar said price control for the LPG sector was long overdue because consumers and taxi operators were forced to dig deeper into their pockets for a commodity that fluctuated in price at global market.

Kumar said price control and reduction of LPG will create a fairer market for consumers at large and apart from this, attention must also be paid to the quality of gas sold.

She said there is no legislation or standards in place to ensure consumers are receiving quality gas with correct volume and quality check and certification of cylinders must also be studied carefully.

She also said their findings reveal that some cylinders were tested more than two decades ago while in other countries gas cylinders carry an expiry date from safety perspective.

The Council is also urging the public to take advantage of the price reduction which came into effect on Saturday.

By Mereani Gonedua