Last week Channel 7 News, in a sensational story featuring the businessman Lascelle Arnold, aired the results of their investigation into what looked like “highway robbery” by Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LGP) companies that sell butane every day to Belizean consumers. The results of Channel 7’s investigations showed that the companies, as a matter of practice, charged consumers the full price, but gave them much less butane than was warranted by law.
In one case, a tank was shorted by as much as 30 percent of butane, and many believe that the practice has been ongoing for many years.
Now, a second scandal has surfaced. Channel 7 News revealed on Tuesday night, as outlined by an anonymous whistle-blower, that the flow meters used by the majority of butane companies have been systematically rigged so that customers are cheated out of the amount of butane that they paid for.
It was also revealed that weighted scales were used by the majority of the companies in the past, but this practice was discarded so that consumers could be shafted out of their money for less value.
Amidst all of this controversy, Belize Western Energy Limited (BWEL) and now Gas Tomza Limited (GTL) have maintained their innocence and insisted that they practiced good corporate ethics.
Meanwhile other companies, such as Brown’s Butane, have opted to maintain silence: Brown’s manager said that his press representative will not be available until March 2011. Until then, they will not make an official comment.
BWEL told us today that as much as they would want to comment on the recent revelations, their lawyers have advised them to refrain from official comments while they review the media which they feel are smearing their corporate name without solid evidence.
What about the Belize Government officials who are tasked with consumer protection and regulatory practices?
On Tuesday, the Bureau of Standards sent out a press release of its response to Channel 7’s investigative reporting and its moves to monitor the companies. In the release, the Bureau accepted ‘“the revelations” in the investigation done by Channel 7 News and also asked that the public not mistakenly view the organization as “upholding acts of deception that deprive the average Belizean consumer.”
The Bureau also stated that they are about to take several courses of action immediately. Those actions included taking measures to provide consumers with additional insurance in relation to purchases from the LPG companies. They also pledged to seek financial support from the Government of Belize to get metrology equipment that will assist with monitoring the LPG industry. These equipment purchases include weights and measures to gauge the quantity and quality of LPG mixtures imported.
The Bureau also pledged that an international (German) organization of experts, called Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt (PTB), will provide consultancy with the Bureau and other regulating bodies; this consultancy is set to start in March 2011.
The release closed with the comment that the Bureau understands the urgency of the situation and that they will respond as fast as resources and time permit them. The release also calls on other regulatory bodies to assist them in rooting out possibly fraudulent actions by the LPG companies.
We have made numerous calls and requests to the office of Bureau of Standards, but no one has made contact with us for an official comment on record from since last week. We contacted the Bureau’s office today and we were told that Bureau’s director, José Trejo, was in a meeting. We were informed by our colleagues from KREM News that they are currently facing the same difficulty in seeking an interview.
Amandala also made numerous attempts to reach Prime Minister Dean Barrow, Minister Erwin Contreras, and Minister John Saldivar. None of the Ministers was available for comment. Bureau of Standards Director, José Trejo, and Minister Contreras have both commented to Channel 7 News that there is a Statutory Instrument in the works which will be passed into law as soon as possible.
As part of the Instrument’s new regulatory policy, butane companies and distributors will be required to install weighted scales so that consumers can verify the amount of product that is being pumped into their tanks.
In today’s Guardian newspaper, which is an organ of the ruling UDP, it was announced that the Bureau of Standards will get a budgeted funding of $500,000 to increase the Bureau’s resources in an attempt to better regulate the companies.
Today we were able to speak to Eduardo Jeronimo, General Manager of Gas Tomza Limited (GTL). When we questioned him about Channel 7’s findings last week, he, like the Belize Western Energy Limited (BWEL) executives, told us that he cannot comment on them because they were not done in his presence to verify the integrity of the results.
He said that GTL is an international company that is under the scrutiny of many professionals in the business, and that they operate all the branches in Belize to the standards of those that exist in Gas Tomza branches in Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras and Nicaragua.
He added that any competent professional can come in at anytime to do testing and investigations; they ask only to be present to verify. He also told us that they take equipment measuring and maintains the strictly held protocols as mandated by the international Tomza branches.
Jeronimo said that Tomza currently is the only company in Belize that uses a water system as a part of their safety practices to keep the pressure of their stored product under control and within safe levels. He declared that if the Government passes the Statutory Instrument for scales as a requirement to do business, then GTL will comply willingly and fully with that instrument.