A BULAWAYO service station was on Friday dragged to court for selling contaminated diesel which did not meet the Zimbabwe Energy Regulatory Authority (Zera)’s minimum standards.
Clean Easy Service Station, represented by Partson Samuel Chikuni, admitted the charge before Bulawayo magistrate Maxwell Ncube.
The service station was granted US$400 bail, while awaiting sentencing.
The court heard that on November 9 this year, Zera representatives visited Clean Easy Service Station at Number 120 Herbert Chitepo and advised Chikuni that they wanted to check if the service station was selling fuel which complied with the standards prescribed by the law.
The court heard that a fuel sample from one of the running diesel pumps was collected and tested at a laboratory which revealed that the fuel from the service station failed to meet the required minimum standards, implying that the diesel was contaminated.
The court also heard that the fuel had a flash point of 50,6 degree celsius against the prescribed minimum standard of 57 degree celsius.
The latest incident comes in the wake of a number of service stations in Bulawayo, which include Petromoc, Excor, Engen Petroleum, Meizon Petroleum, Boss Fuel Petroleum and Lotus Petroleum having been arrested for selling contaminated fuel.