The Jamaica Gasoline Retailers Association (JGRA) is conducting a survey of its members to try and determine if petroleum being sold to the retail trade is contaminated.

There were claims of petrol or ‘bad gas’ contamination in the past, but the findings of a Government-ordered investigation proved inconclusive.

Now, JGRA President Gregory Chung, in response to a Sunday Gleaner article last week which suggested, among other things, that more smelly ‘bad gas’ could be on the market, said that it would be difficult to determine the truth if a deep analysis was not done.

“We can’t speak without having the hard data, and so we are surveying our members to get information that is credible, because to say you get bad gas is like saying you have the flu and you get dengue fever. It has to be diagnosed to say that is the true culprit, because you can get fever from different things and all manner of things can cause your body to get fever,” Chung told the Jamaica Observer by telephone last week.

“So it’s the same thing with gasoline. Your car can break down right after you left a gas station and it has absolutely nothing to do with the gas that you got in your vehicle, but then you can say, I just went to the gas station, so it must be the gas. So that is the challenge. We have to gather the data and look for patterns and similarities. This report in the media said that it smells bad and also that employees at Petrojam are experiencing performance issues. We need now to find out from our members if that is so,” Chung stated.

Can smell determine if gas is good or bad?, was the next question put to the JGRA president: “No. It needs a more scientific way. The only thing that we are seeking from Petrojam is if there are any health issues, because we are aware of NEPA having certain requirements from certain businesses, schools, churches where you have large gatherings, because of safe breathing of air.

“Does Petrojam have these requirements? Because if the smell is so high that the people are complaining of a nuisance, you have to wonder — is it safe for humans to be constantly breathing these things? We have written to Petrojam and are awaiting a response from them,” Chung added

Chung said that from a performance aspect, the JGRA was awaiting feedback from its members regarding customer complaints, and to provide the association with details where possible.

The information should include where the complainant bought the fuel, what exactly is the complaint, and who has verified the complaint.

“The problem with bad gas is to identify where exactly it was purchased. The last report that came back from the government-appointed committee — after all the time and effort and money spent — was inconclusive. And that was so disappointing for our organisation as well as the general motoring public because many people, the dealers, suffered greatly. Many of our sites were closed down for weeks; we suffered losses in terms of business. We suffered because once they closed you down you had this reputation, even though you didn’t do anything, because you just purchased their fuel.

“We made representation to the former minister of energy — the prime minister — that the motorists who put in these claims… an extensive list was gathered, and they had to go through all the red tape to fill out the forms, put in receipts and have some form of proof that their vehicle was damaged, they — get them compensated.

“Our position was that the damage must have been brought in from somewhere, whether from Petrojam or some importer of fuel, and the motorist got their vehicle damaged. And as a goodwill gesture and to restore confidence in the industry, we think they should compensate them, and the then minister agreed,” Chung said.