Consumers ripped off at 50% of gas pumps

As of Wednesday, December 14, 2016

By NATARIO McKENZIE

Tribune Business Reporter

nmckenzie@tibunemedia.net

Bahamian consumers are being short-changed at 50 per cent of gasoline station pumps, a regulator revealed yesterday.

Dr Renae Ferguson-Bufford, the Bahamas Bureau of Standards and Quality (BBSQ) director, said Bahamians were not getting the volume of gasoline they paid for at half the pumps in this nation.

She said yesterday the Bahamas still has much work to do in improving standards and quality, revealing that an inspection of fuel stations by the Bureau had found only 50 per cent of the pumps measured volumes accurately.

Addressing the Bahamas Chamber of Commerce and Employers Confederation’s(BCCEC) Energy Security Forum, Dr Ferguson-Bufford stressed that Bahamians should get what they pay for, adding that the Bureau will periodically carry out such inspections but requires additional manpower to be fully effective.

“What we had found is that 50 per cent of the pumps were actually accurate. When inspectors when out to the pumps and, let’s say, they inspected four, only two were found to be in compliance with what is required,” she said.

“We have three major service providers, and we’re talking about all of them; we’re not targeting one over the other. We found issues with all of them. We have work to do. We found deficiencies.

“We spoke to them, and they got their technicians to deal with the issue right away. You should get what you pay for.”

The Bahamas has three major fuel providers - Sol Petroleum/Esso (Bahamas); Rubis/Texaco (Bahamas) and Freeport Oil Company (FOCOL)/ Shell.

Dr Ferguson-Bufford reiterated: “We have a lot of work to do. We are very late coming out of the pack. If you look at Jamaica, for instance, when it comes to standards and quality they are meeting the mark.

“I’m not saying that we are not doing anything, but if we are going to advance ourselves and open the markets that we need, we have to improve.”

She added: “We have three, perhaps four accredited laboratories in this country. We cannot afford to get left behind in terms of efficiency, processes and practices in this country.

“We have not had a Bureau of Standards in this country. We are coming up last out of 15 CARICOM states. Standards are driven by the industry, and so we need the private sector to drive the process.”

YesiJed 7 years, 4 months ago

Surely the public has a right to know which pumps are accurate and which are not ???

Well_mudda_take_sic 7 years, 4 months ago

Don't we deserve to know why the director of the Bahamas Bureau of Standards and Quality has taken so long to tell us that we have not been getting the volume of gasoline we pay for at half the gas pumps in our country?!.

So tell us Dr. Ferguson-Bufford who has had criminal charges filed against them by you for outright theft and violation of the relevant price control laws in place! Or are you Dr. Ferguson-Bufford sucking on the public purse with no power to anything about this matter? Surely you appreciate that as fast as the pumps inspected by you are changed, they will be re-changed by the crooks, unless of course you have the power to charge them with their crime committed against Bahamian consumers and are willing to use that power?!!

sealice 7 years, 4 months ago

I guess she thinks like Jerry Fitzgerald and everyone has a "D" average and can't figure out what da fook 50% of something is....

Rhetoric 7 years, 4 months ago

What she needs to do is specify which specific stations were in compliance so that we can go exclusively to them.

I am sure the 50% of the pumps was not evenly distributed

BahamaPundit 7 years, 4 months ago

Great concept for an article but very poor reporting. Which pumps? More importantly, what is their motive -- are they intentionally ripping off the public or is it just a technological glitch? How much gas is being miscalculated -- small or large amounts? This is a very important topic Tribune; please research further.

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