Those whose construction of stations amount to less than 800 million riel ($200,000) will be fined 400 million riel, whereas owners of infrastructures built with 800 million riel or morewill have to pay 10 million riel. Hong Menea
The Ministry of Mines and Energy warned of action against owners of new petrol and gas stations built across the country who failed to apply for technical and safety certifications before the deadline.
In a Facebook post on Thursday, the ministry called on owners who were in the process of building new stations and had yet to acquire ministry-issued technical and safety certification to file their applications through the municipal and provincial Departments of Mines and Energy.
Owners who fail to do so will be held accountable before the law, said the post.
Article 66 of the Law on the Management and Production of Petroleum, which was promulgated on July 12, last year, states that persons found guilty of carrying out downstream operations without the ministry’s authorisation will be fined.
Those whose construction of stations amount to less than 800 million riel ($200,000) will be fined four million riel, whereas owners of infrastructures built with 800 million riel or more will have to pay 10 million riel.
Repeat offenders will be fined double the amount by the ministry.
Ministry spokesman Cheap Sour told The Post on Sunday that more than 4,200 stations now line the country. Of these, more than 100 are under construction.
Due to the recently promulgated law, Sour said the ministry had paid closer attention to the ongoing constructions. He noted that owners of ongoing projects are required to apply for certification.
Owners of stations built before the enforcement of the law must also apply beginning July this year, he said.
“After instructing owners whose stations are under construction to apply for certification, only 50 per cent of them did so. If the deadline passes, our ministry officials will conduct inspections to fine those who have failed to comply, as well as suspend their operations,” he said.
Sour noted that the strict enforcement of the law seeks to prevent possible safety risks and accidents.
A circular issued by the ministry in 2014 said petrol and gas stations should not be built downtown. Otherwise, the stations should be enclosed within an at least 3m-high protective wall on a 375sqm plot to ensure public safety.
It also required stations to have underground storage tanks for petroleum as mandated by the technical and safety standards.
Fuel dispensers, electric connection and fire extinguishers should also be within the standards set forth by the Asean community.
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