Government ministries called on retailers to sell as many gas bottles as the customers bring empty.
Rabat – The Ministry of the Interior and Ministry of Energy said in a joint statement on Sunday that Morocco has a sufficient supply of butane gas and the logistical means to ensure a regular supply.
The ministries issued the statement in light of the exceptional situation of the COVID-19 pandemic to avoid disturbances in the supply of cylinders of butane gas, used for heating and cooking.
The two departments instructed local stakeholders, production companies, and retailers to adhere to the rule of selling only as many gas bottles as they receive empties from the customer and to return empty bottles to filling centers.
To ensure a regular supply of butane gas, the two ministries called on gas companies to use transportation appropriately, extend working hours at filling centers to meet the national demand, and to increase monitoring to identify overruns and take legal action accordingly.
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Because of the pandemic, “the concerns of certain families and farmers in terms of availability of basic products on the national market, in particular butane gas cylinders, have generated an unjustified craze for this product,” said the statement. The sudden increase in demand for gas “could cause a dysfunction of the retail market in some regions of the kingdom.”
The two ministries warned that some wrongdoings may disrupt the production chain and cause danger to citizens who hoard gas.
“Some people sell gas bottles without receiving empty ones, while others resort to building a personal stock that disrupts the production and acquisition chain of this basic product, in addition to the security risks linked to storage of gas cylinders by families,” added the statement.
