The President’s Media Division says that payments have been made for the LP gas tankers docked in the Colombo Port. 

Unloading of the gas will commence tomorrow (17) and the distribution of domestic LP gas will continue, it said. 

It was reported earlier today that Litro Gas and Laugfs Gas PLC, the two largest suppliers of liquefied petroleum (LP) gas in Sri Lanka, had decided to halt the distribution of cylinders for domestic use.

The decision was taken due to the shortage of supplies, the LP gas companies explained while adding that at present, LP gas cylinders are being distributed only for commercial use.

It was reported yesterday that Litro Gas was yet to receive foreign exchange to be paid to the two vessels anchored in the Sri Lankan maritime border for nearly 10 days with 3,500 metric tonnes of LP gas.

Ada Derana learns that nearly USD 18,000 needs to be paid for each day as demurrage charges for each shipment. Thereby, approximately USD 360,000 is due to be paid to the two cargo vessels for the delayed payment.

The members of the public have been gravely affected by the ongoing shortage of LP gas in the local market, and long queues were witnessed outside retail outlets over the past few days.

The situation has also caused a heavy toll on restaurants, some of which were forced to shut down operations as a result of the severe shortage.