How
the illegal stations Jamaican obtain supplies
By Steve Brown
The
Jamaica Observer
Kingston
Petroleumworld.com 02 12 06
A surveillance of the supply chain for gasolene, from the loading
of tankers, to fuel delivery to service stations, to the gas
tanks of motorists, suggests that the weak element is the lack
of oversight of tanker drivers.
There
is nothing to suggest that the haulage contractors have equipped
their trucks with tracking technology, making it impossible
for them to map the routes the trucks travel on delivery runs,
or know when their drivers stray from delivery routes.
This photo, taken in January, shows a number of drums, apparently
full of gas, at a compound in Greenwich Town, Kingston. (Photo:
Steve Brown)
The
Sunday Observer, two weeks ago, traced the path of several trucks
as they departed the Petrojam refinery on Marcus Garvey Dive
in Kingston. The first two targets, followed on day one of the
surveillance, yielded nothing.
Truck
number one travelled on Spanish Town Road and eventually headed
to Spanish Town, St Catherine.
Truck number two journeyed to Portmore, also in St Catherine.
On day two, however, target number three diverted.
The
tanker made what appeared to be its legitimate delivery of gasolene
to a petrol station in Cross Roads. He then drove straight to
Greenwich Town, where he entered a compound with big gates that
swung open to admit the truck.
The
truck backed into the gate, and a hose was connected to it,
apparently to siphon whatever was left in the tanker.
Trevor Heaven, president of the Jamaica Gasolene Retailers Association
(JGRA), says gas station owners know they are being cheated
at the point of delivery.
But
he charges that their requests to change the measuring method
for the fuel entering their tanks at delivery have been denied.
According
to Heaven, Petrojam uses a meter to measure the fuel when it
enters the trucks, and a similar system is used to ensure that
the motorists get the amount of gas they pay for at the pumps.
Yet,
the gas stations, he added, are still required to use what he
said was the less accurate T-Bar, which measures empty space
in the gas stations' underground storage tanks, rather than
the amount of fuel put in.
"Our leg of the delivery is an open avenue for people to
steal petrol," said Heaven.
"We
are not allowed to use meters; a T-Bar is used to measure the
empty space in the tanker and we then assume the liquid content.
Sometimes what we assume is not what we get."
The
situation irks the JGRA even more because their own gas, says
Heaven, is used to undercut their business.
And often, he said, the station operators discover the shortage
only at the point when volume sales at their pumps fall short
of purchased supply.
"The impact is significant. We have no choice but to obey
the law," said the JGRA president.
"We
have to pay staff, rental and utility bills and on top of that,
it is very difficult for us to find out immediately when our
supply is short."
The
JGRA, he said, is now pinning its hopes on planned court action
by the marketing companies, contesting aspects of the Weights
and Measures Act, which, if successful, Heaven said, will retire
the T-Bar style of measurement.
The Jamaica Observer
Sunday, February 05, 2006
