The errant fuel dealers have been dragged to court and
fined different amounts, Zera chief executive officer, Mr Eddington Mazambani,
confirmed the development yesterday.
The six companies are; Meizon Amakhosi, Bulawayo, which was
fined US$$300 for selling contaminated diesel and Petromoc Exor, which was
charged for selling blended fuel as unblended and was fined US$300.
Clean Liquids has also been charged for selling
contaminated diesel and fined US$300, the same with Clean Easy which was fined
US$400.
Heaven S/St, Bulawayo was fined US$150 for selling
contaminated diesel, while Oil Twenty 20 was fined US$400 for selling
contaminated fuel.
In written responses to Chronicle questions, Mr Mazambani
said the prosecution of the service stations was part of a national compliance
initiative.
“The location and allocation of land for service stations
is governed by the local authorities concerned. Service stations are required
to meet EMA and Fire Departments’ safe storage of fuel requirements,” he said.
“Ultimately, service stations need a Zera license to
operate and before they are given the license, they must demonstrate compliance
with the following key standards or codes for the petroleum industry.”
For instance, standard regulations require service tanks to
have installation of underground tanks, pumps and pipework at service stations
and consumer installations.
Mr Mazambani said Zera does not only enforce standards but
also conducts awareness training sessions with stakeholders on the standards
and best practices to facilitate compliance.
Two of the companies that have recently been prosecuted and
whose documents were gleaned by this publication are Boss Petroleum Investment,
which was represented by Maryln Mpofu, who pleaded guilty to the charge of
operating without a Zera certificate. She appeared before Bulawayo magistrate
Ms Nomagugu Maphosa.
The court heard that on October 3 this year Zera, through
one of its officers, was checking Zera retail licences at fuel stations.
While checking for compliance at Boss Petroleum Investment,
staff at the station failed to produce an operating license. The service
station was given one week grace period to get a Zera retail license but failed
to get one leading to its prosecution.
In another case, Clean Liquids Service Station, represented
by Benjamin Simbarashe Lumeli, was found selling diesel that does not conform
to fuel standards.
Lumeli, aged 38 is said to have been at the station on
November 7 in Belmont and was found in possession and selling fuel that did not
meet required standards.
“The Zera officers advised the accused of their intention
to ascertain the fuel in accordance with the prescribed standards,” reads a
court document.
“It was also stated that a sample of the fuel was taken
from the pump before being tested in a laboratory…the results revealed that the
accused’s diesel failed to meet the minimum requirements of on flashpoint as
per ZWS751/2017 standards implying that the diesel was contaminated.
“The diesel in question had a flashpoint of 56 degrees
Celsius against the prescribed minimum standard expectation of 57 degrees
Celsius,” read a court document. The court was further told that the state
secured a tank with the liquid as an exhibit.
“A seal was placed approximately 309, 5 litres as shown in
the seizure form…”
Meanwhile, the Ministry of Energy and Power Development
last month adopted the revised ZWS753:2020 (Unleaded Petrol) standard, as the
standard for unleaded petrol and all fuel importers were advised that in five
months they would be expected to import fuel that meets or exceeds
specifications laid out in the revised standard.
In a general notice number 1884 0f 2023, Zimbabwe Energy
Regulatory Authority (Zera) said the revised standard ZWS 753:2020 allows for
the importation of cleaner and superior unleaded petrol that is compatible with
modern and improved vehicle technologies and eliminates vapour lock problems
previously encountered at service stations.
Early this year the Ministry launched a fuel retail service
stations grading system that was envisioned to see an improvement in
infrastructure and service provision.
The grading system was implemented by Zera as part of its
policy to raise consumer awareness to set standards in the fuel retail sector.
In the past Zera has demanded and enforced high standards
of infrastructure and product quality in the petroleum sector
through compliance enforcement.
In 2022, the authority raised the bar to include customer
service standards in service station compliance assessments with a view of
encouraging more self-assessment and self-improvement by its licence holders in
the conduct of their business.
To this end, they have developed a system of grading and
labelling fuel service stations as a way of increasing consumer awareness to
standards in the retail sector, and compliance to these standards by fuel
retail stations.
The initiative provides the fuelling public with an
independent view of technical and customer service standards prevailing at
graded fuel retail sites.
The grading system by Zera seeks to help consumers realise
the full range of services that fuel stations offer to enhance customer service
experience and enhance value for money.
Zera board chair Doctor Dylan Madzikanda said the fuel
business was expanding with more initiatives being implemented to grow the
sector.
“The fuel business has continued to thrive because of the
regulations and measures that we
put in place. Zera continues to protect customers in terms of the quality of
fuel that they purchase as well as avoiding exploitation by dealers by putting
monthly caps on the price of fuel and allowing market competition to take
place.” Chronicle
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