19 Aug 2020

Botswana Regulatory Authority (BERA), Mr Gift Bakumbi Acting petroleum director has urged petroleum operators to ensure they comply with their code of conduct.

Speaking at a one-day workshop for operators in Francistown on August 17, Mr Bakumbi said licensees (petroleum operators) were expected to conduct their businesses in a manner that did not pose unmitigated risks to the public, consumers and employees.

He also advised operators to conduct their businesses in a manner that did not cause risks to the environment. Mr Bakumbi told participants that their licensees were expected to only stock, offer for sale and sell products which conform to the specified quality in the applicable standards.

“It is the responsibility of licensees to ensure that the product received from their supplier conforms to the standard,” he added.

Mr Bakumbi said licensees were expected to comply with all regulatory requirements and technical standards prescribed by the authority on regular basis to allow the authority to carry its inspections, audits and investigations without fail to determine the performance of the operators.

He said for the 2019/2020 financial year, their investigations have revealed an overall of 42 per cent compliance by operators which was lowered by lack of capacity building as most petroleum attendants were not well trained.

“It is very risky to the public and environment to engage attendants without adequate training,” he cautioned. 

Senior petroleum inspector, Mr Kuvare Venjonoka lectured the participants on the star rating programme, which he said was a tool to assess licensees’ performance.

“Performance is determined by technical assessments conducted by the Authority, key performance indicators and consumer feedback,” he said. 

He further said the star rating programme tool was meant to help operators to intensify compliance on their own.

Mr Venjonoko added that the tool would also give consumers the confidence to associate with a filling station with good ratings and with good product quality.

He advised all entities that have been licensed by the Local Authority/Councils to operate petroleum retail services stations to convert such licenses to the new BERA licenses regulations.

He further said educating the public was a collective responsibility which operators should embark on to make sure there was compliance from both operators and the public.

In their comments, petroleum operators called for fairness when the authority assessed filling stations in urban areas against those in rural areas because they their compliance standards were not the same.

 

 BERA is currently on a countrywide tour to engage key stakeholders on the new regulatory requirements expected to promote the sectors’ performance and induce competition amongst petroleum operators. BOPA