Proper standards required for usage of gas - Professor Hewage

COLOMBO (News 1st); Former COPE Chairman Sunil Handunnetti said Sri Lanka's political authority should also be held accountable for the recent spike in gas explosions.

Appearing on the Mawatha Intellectual discussion program on Sirasa TV (Produced by News 1st), on Thursday (2) said the government will be held responsible for the injuries and loss of life as well as property damage caused by gas explosions.

Professor Jinasena Hewage, from the Department of Chemistry at the University of Ruhuna, Sri Lanka said the Butane and Propane gases used to produce LP Gas, are liquified for easy transport.

"Gas can be used as Butane, Propane, or a mix," he said adding that though both chemicals are located next to each other in the elementary classification, there is a massive difference in the liquifying process of the two.

He said there needs to be a proper standard over the use of Propane, Butane, or a mix of the two, and then submit the product for tests in order to ascertain its quality.

These tests must also provide standards for the gas cylinders and the equipment used with gas cylinders, he said.

He stressed these standards MUST be maintained from the production process to distribution until it reaches the final destination, the consumer.