Bureau of standards to crack down on cheating butane gas vendors

The Belize Bureau of Standards has assured consumers that they intend to immediately “pursue measures to provide additional assurance to the consumer as it relates to purchases of liquid petroleum gas in the domestic market.”
The action follows an investigative report by Channel 7 Television which showed that some butane vendors were ripping off consumers by as much as 25 percent on a 100 pound cylinder of butane.

Consumers have no practical way of weighing the butane they buy, and some unscrupulous vendors have used this loop-hole to short-change buyers by putting less butane (by weight) into their tanks. The Bureau proposes to buy new metering equipment and hold butane vendors to exact weight standards to put an end to the abuse.

The equipment, the Bureau says, will help them monitor the LPG industry to make sure that butane vendors sell at the proper weight. The Bureau will also monitor the quality of butane being sold since local butane, although in short supply, is a lot cheaper than the imported butane.

The bureau has already secured technical assistance, notably from associates in Central America and from a company in Germany which provides scientific and technical services. These will assist the Bureau to evaluate butane suppliers, facilities and equipment. The new measures will also evaluate storage and distribution methods, including the meters on trucks and in plants which measure butane being sold. The Bureau did not indicate whether it would take criminal action against current abusers.

The Belize Bureau of Standards pledges to move swiftly to put these inspection measures into effect, but acknowledged it cannot do so immediately. The Bureau urges consumers to be on the alert and buy only from reputable vendors. Consumers can protect themselves from fraud by weighing the butane cylinders before they are filled and after. If they have a bathroom scale at home they should use it. They should also report any discrepancy in the weight to the Bureau of Standards in Belmopan at Tel. 822-0466
or fax, 822.2477, or email bbs@btl.net. There is also a consumer hotline: 0800-283-5587.

The Reporter