A BULAWAYO fuel supplier, Cost Cutters Service Station, has been taken to court by the Zimbabwe Energy Regulatory Authority (Zera) on allegations of selling contaminated fuel to unsuspecting motorists.
BY SILAS NKALA
The company was not asked to plead to the charge when its unnamed official appeared before Bulawayo magistrate, Tinashe Tashaya on Friday.
The matter was remanded to today for trial.
The court heard that on September 5 this year, Zera employees teamed up with police and stormed the service station and found that they were selling contaminated fuel.
Petrol samples collected from the pump nozzles were tested and revealed that the service station’s products, which comprised of 800 litres of diesel and 700 litres of petrol, were contaminated.
The diesel sample tested revealed that the company’s diesel had a flash point of 54,7°C against the minimum of 57°C as per required standards, implying that it failed to comply with the specific quality requirements of automotive diesel on the tested parameters suggesting a higher product contamination.
The results were also confirmed through Standard Association of Zimbabwe.
