Inadequacies in gas business management

The Provincial People's Council's Legal Committee supervised a gas business in Ninh Giang district. At the time of the supervision, the facility was still operating despite not meeting security and order conditions and not trading in cylindered LPG.

As of December 31, 2022, Hai Duong province has 1,377 business establishments with security and order conditions, including 497 gas business establishments. In practice, the management of these establishments in recent years has been inadequate and has many potential risks.

Not qualified for security and order

Gas trading is a business line with conditions on security and order as stipulated in Decree No. 96/2016/ND-CP. However, in the province, there are still many gas trading establishments that have not been granted certificates of eligibility for retail stores selling liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) in cylinders and certificates of eligibility for security and order.

According to the Department of Industry and Trade, in reality, the management and control of gas retail business activities still face many difficulties. In some localities, the issuance and re-issuance of certificates of eligibility for retail sale of LPG cylinders is slow, and there are cases where workers have not been trained in safety in gas trading. In many gas retail stores, although they are equipped with fire-fighting equipment and explosion-prevention safety equipment, they are only for show.

On November 20, 2022, Ninh Giang District Police informed the People's Committees of communes and towns about the violations of a number of business establishments with security and order conditions in the district. Of the 80 establishments that did not meet the operating conditions, 69 were gas businesses because they had not been granted a certificate of eligibility for retail LPG cylinders and a certificate of eligibility for security and order. Last April, the Provincial People's Council's Legal Committee supervised a gas business in Ninh Giang District. Through supervision, it was found that this establishment was still operating normally inside a hair salon, shampoo shop, despite not meeting the conditions. Most of the other gas businesses are also small-scale, selling other items and services along with gas, making them difficult to manage.

Cam Giang District has 48 gas businesses, all of which are under the management of the District Police. Cam Giang District Police said that the issuance of certificates of eligibility for security and order for gas businesses is facing many difficulties. According to Decree No. 96/2016/ND-CP, gas businesses with a total gas inventory of 70 kg or more must have a fire prevention and fighting acceptance document to be eligible. However, these businesses were previously only granted certificates of eligibility for fire prevention and fighting safety by the Fire Prevention, Fire Fighting and Rescue Police Department (Provincial Police) to do business. In fact, through a general review of gas businesses, Cam Giang District Police found that most of the businesses had gas inventory of over 70 kg.

With the shortcomings related to security and order conditions, the Provincial Police proposed to remove the gas business from the list of business lines and investment lines with security and order conditions. Through the actual management of this business line, it shows that there are few incidents related to security and order, mainly incidents related to fire prevention and fighting.

Why?

According to Hai Duong Provincial Police, the shortcomings in managing conditional business lines in general and gas business in particular are due to the fact that the staff assigned to manage conditional business lines is currently small in number, has uneven qualifications and has to take on many tasks. Currently, the district-level police only have 44 officers in charge of registering and managing conditional business lines in terms of security and order. This force often changes jobs, few officers are properly trained in the field, leading to in-depth monitoring of this field. In addition, the shortcomings in funding, equipment, technology, and implementation procedures also affect the effectiveness of the police force's management work.

In addition, the coordination between functional agencies and the police force is not tight in some places and at some times. The lack of coordination regulations between the police agency and sectors and levels in the management of conditional investment and business sectors on security and order at all levels is a cause. According to regulations, the management of gas business establishments is not only the responsibility of the police force but also the responsibility of all levels and sectors, mainly the Economic Infrastructure Department of the districts. According to the reporter's records, many Economic Infrastructure Departments of the districts do not have information related to gas business establishments in the areas under their management.

Due to the limited awareness and legal assistance of state management agencies, there have been many cases where business owners did not comply with regulations when investing and building facilities for business activities. When the assessment found that they did not meet the conditions for security and order, fire prevention and fighting, they could not overcome them. Therefore, there are establishments that do not meet the conditions and have not been granted a certificate of eligibility for security and order but still deliberately operate.

SNOW WIND