We're used to hearing the attendant at the gas station ask us if we want regular or premium fuel, but - as we told you last night - in the not too distant future, that's what your butane company will be asking you. In fact, it won't only be regular and premium, the proposal is for there to be four grades of butane.
And while that's the future, in there here and now, there's no grading system, just the locally produced BNE butane, which sells in Spanish Lookout for $82.50 per hundred pound cylinder and the tank supplied by your butane company for $126.00 per hundred pound cylinder in the city.
The Liquid Petroleum Gas Importers say their stuff is high grade and meets standards, while the local product is poorly refined and will damage your stove, your regulator and your tank.
That's their claim, but today Monica Bodden wanted to hear first hand from folks who've been using it for the past three weeks. As we reported on January 6th., BNE gave free butane refills to villagers in Georgeville. Monica asked them how it's been going set against the backdrop of the dire warning given last night by Mike Reyes from Western Energy:…
Roque Reyes, Belize Gas Company
"What is happening is that people don't know when they buy this product and their tank lasts less and their stoves begin to rot a lot faster, the regulator get mess up...I mean its unacceptable gas"…
Helen Jones McCoy - Resident of Georgeville
"It really good and in a way I see that the pot gets hotter, yes but otherwise I done see any problem."
Helen McCoy - a resident of Georgeville - was one of the many whose gas tank was filled up with BNE's local butane gas - on January 6th.
For her, there hasn't been anything different. In fact she believes the local butane may be even better compared to the one she has been buying for years.
Monica Bodden
"It's not blackening your stove, it's not blackening your pot, nothing like that?"
Helen Jones McCoy - Resident of Georgeville
"Nothing more like what the other one use to do when it goes low, because when the other gas went low the pots started to get black, so the same thing will happen, so I don't see any difference."
We ventured off into the village of Georgeville to find out just what residents thought about the new local butane gas which is produced by BNE- since most of them have been cooking with it for the past 3 weeks.
Rosella Williams - Resident of Georgeville
"Well it works good, it really works good enough to me because I have it over a month right now and it really works good."
Monica Bodden
"You have no problem with the gas?"
Rosella Williams - Resident of Georgeville
"No problem with the gas right now, but I don't know when its finish, but now it's ok. And I don't have any complaint about that. Because when you buy from the other ones, you buy your amount of gas and in a couple of days your gas is finish, you have to go buy again."
Monica Bodden
"But with this one?"
Rosella Williams - Resident of Georgeville
"But with this one it last a while, it last over a month and the others don't last so long."
Paula Jones -Resident of Georgeville
"It work good."
Monica Bodden
"You don't have any complaint?"
Paula Jones -Resident of Georgeville
"No complaint at all."
Monica Bodden
"Your pot is not getting black? Your stove is not getting black?"
Paula Jones -Resident of Georgeville
"No, neither."
Monica Bodden
"It burns good?"
Paula Jones -Resident of Georgeville
"Yes, it burns good"
Monica Bodden
"You think it burns better than the other gas?"
Paula Jones -Resident of Georgeville
"Well this one burns better in truth, but that one finishes faster, the one I use to use, and it's expensive."
Carlton Jones -Resident of Georgeville
"This gas work good for me, better than the regular one I use to buy from those people, because from the time we got that tank it still has gas in it."
Monica Bodden
"You don't have any problem with it blackening your stove and blackening your pots or anything?"
Carlton Jones-Resident of Georgeville
"No, nothing like that, everything is very cool."
And then we asked the villagers, would they buy butane gas from BNE if it was being offered?
Helen Jones McCoy - Resident of Georgeville
"Definite, with the first one, definite, instead of the other one that will kill us, because the other one is too high, six change a gallon what will we do, we will have to go back to our old fire hearth, you know."
Rosella Williams - Resident of Georgeville
"Yes, I would buy it, yes."
Paula Jones-Resident of Georgeville
"Yes, if it comes in time yes, I would buy it in truth, but sometimes if it doesn't come in time i would buy from the other one."
Monica Bodden
"Would you be purchasing butane gas from BNE?"
Carlton Jones-Resident of Georgeville
"Exactly, because I already seen the big difference."
The importers warned about medium and long term damage to stoves and regulators.
And, to round off our story on butane, Belize Western Energy today sent out a press release. As you may have noticed, BWEL, which is the country's largest butane supplier has strictly stayed out of the public dispute - refusing to take part in any strike and also not appearing at yesterday's press conference. That's because BWEL says it prefers a more measured approach, and also because they use BNE's butane, blending it with the Liquid Petroleum Gas they import from Venezuela. BWEL says they have blended it effectively, without detriment to consumers because only their company has proper blending facilities, equipment and personnel. We note that they have also blended it to their maximum commercial advantage, buying the local butane cheap yet still selling at the controlled price which is based on much more expensive imported butane. The company spoke expansively of itself today in its release, outlining the fact that it owns and operates 11 depots countrywide and also employs directly over 103 employees.
The company says its investment in infrastructure allows it to have a storage capacity larger than the other importers combined. End.sa…
