IT took a short 15-minute ride but within that time, the Sunday Observer, in an undercover probe of the thriving and lucrative trade, detected four illegal gas ‘stations’ in Greenwich Town alone, whose clientele ranged from taxi operators to the police.

An ‘attendant’ at one of the outlets, believing he was speaking to a taxi driver, tells the Sunday Observer that, on a bad day, the outlet makes $150,000 to $200,000 – which, assuming a six-day business week, roughly translates to $47 million to $62 million in annual sales.

Business, he adds, is most vibrant when regular market prices are fluctuating at legitimate pumps.

The police know of these outlets; they have closed down several in the past, only to see them reopen for business.

Superintendent Newton Amos, commander of the St Andrew South police division, says the operations can only be locked down for good when the legitimate businesses and regulators of the petroleum trade put in tighter safeguards to strangle the backdoor siphoning of gas, diverted from legitimate supplies to service stations.

His men, he said, when asked to explain the seeming impunity of the illegal gas dispensers, are without the expertise to determine whether it is actually fuel being sold, despite the vehicles that stream in and out those premises.

“The police are not trained to test the contents of the drums. They assume it is petroleum products because people are buying it and using it in their cars,” said Amos.

It’s unclear whether the drums used by the outlets are empty discards or acquired with gasolene.

“That (testing) has to be done by trained people who are in the petroleum business,” said the police superintendent.

In the meantime, the illegal sales flourish.

It is 4:30 pm, mid-week, and the journey by hired taxi, from Cross Roads to Greenwich Town via Spanish Town Road, is uneventful. The streets are busy as rush hour traffic builds.

It takes 15 minutes to detect the gas sellers.

On Fourth Street, where one of the illegal outlets is located, it is a regular afternoon: children enjoy a game of street football; adults tend to their chores and routine activities.

At the ‘pumps’, business was brisk.

The gas appears to be cheaper than the $45.80 to $50 now available on the market at legal gas stations; but the mode of supply – plastic buckets and non-functioning pumps – makes it difficult to estimate the price per litre.

There is an assurance from the attendant, a young man dressed in a short pants and a t-shirt, however, that the gas he sells is uncut – 100 per cent gasolene.

“What kind a gas you need, mi dawg – 87 or 90?” he asks. The driver orders $1,500 of 87 octane – which is regular gas; 90 octane is premium.

There is no pump; the attendant uses a bucket to dole out the petrol. The driver then shells out $2,000. The attendant goes to a nearby window, and returns with $500 change.

He is told to keep the money and gratefully replies: “Respect and honour, cabbie.”

That large tip was sufficient to have the attendant supply his mobile phone number on request, solicited under the guise that his services would be sought personally on the next purchase.

At a second outlet, business is equally vibrant and motorists, including office workers and professionals, calmly wait their turn to purchase the illegal commodity, undeterred by the area’s reputation as a war-bed, dominated by violent gangs.

One buyer, who gave his name as Paul and identified himself as an accountant, acknowledges that the gas is cheaper in Greenwich Town, and justifies his patronage, saying he cannot afford to buy elsewhere.

The outlet’s clientele, subsequent checks revealed, also included other professionals, teachers among them; some operators of medium and small businesses; and members of the security forces, driving both personal and service vehicles.

These groups, other checks revealed, appeared to comprise the outlets’ largest client base.

Much of the daily operational details of the outlets are later gleaned from a 10-minute phone call with the attendant.

He has been working at Greenwich Town for more than a year, he tells the Sunday Observer, but still does not know who owns the operation.

He adds, however, that all the outlets in the area are supplied in the same way, and from that he speculates that there is one “big man” in charge of it all.

The petrol, he said, came from the “brawta” (extra) that tanker drivers have in their tanks. Asked about the danger of operating in that type of environment, the attendant misinterprets the question and replies that the youths in the area are peaceful.

The ‘gas stations’, he said, are sometimes open from 6:00 am to nightfall, without anyone bothering the ‘workers’ and motorists who do business there. Asked specifically about the danger of fire from spilled gas and fumes, he was dismissive.

“Listen no, me dawg, we have bout three big fire extinguisher, so we cris,” he replies. Several days later, on another visit to Greenwich Town, two women in the vicinity, engaged in conversation under the guise of seeking directions, were equally dismissive of the concerns for their safety, and even angry that the Sunday Observer would raise such a query.

The two young women, after a lecture on how good the operators of the illegal outlets were for looking out for their children and other youngsters in the community, said had it not been for them, more gunmen would be living there.

“We no see no politician, no police, fi help we, and no one is going to stop our bread and butter,” said one of the women.

“Nothing a go happen … If we no have fire already it not going to happen again.”

Amos was a little more concerned.

“We have seen fires here before but it has not happened in a manner to have a public outrage,” he said.

But, a serious fire could pose a national crisis, if the explosions reach the nearby Petrojam Refinery, majority market supplier of petroleum products.

The refinery is located opposite Greenwich Town, separated by the four-lane Marcus Garvey Drive.

Amos says the police have had some successful prosecutions of illegal gas sellers, but he adds that the collars end up creating new problems for the police – what to do with the drums of gas they confiscate.

“The petroleum companies,” he tells the Sunday Observer, “do not want to take them and we have no where to store them”.

Amos says the players need to act collectively to rein in the illicit business.

But the Bureau of Standards Jamaica, the state agency with the responsibility to ensure that legitimate service stations are supplying what their customers pay for, says it has no policing role over illegal sellers.

“We have no mandate to take action against them under the Weights and Measures Act,” said communications officer Ellis Laing.

“We ensure that the pumps at legitimate service stations are calibrated and are licensed and registered.”

Similarly, the Jamaica Gasolene Retailers Association, though decrying the competition from the illegal outlets, said the issue was one of law enforcement, and outside its purview as a trade association.

“The government and powers that be allow this to happen,” said JGRA president Trevor Heaven.

“Apart from the petrol we are losing, there is a serious safety hazard that needs to be addressed urgently, or else we could have a major disaster in this country. And, let us not forget, Petrojam is just across the road. An explosion at one of these outlets could mean the end of Kingston.”

In the face of what he sees as a refusal to help, Amos suggests that the constabulary should similarly ignore the problem.

“The police should not be ‘bagged down’ by this kind of activity when the main players have refused to treat the matter with the urgency to ensure that the product does not go into that kind of illegal activity,” he said.

He adds that the diversion of fuel can easily be stopped if the supplier and those who are involved in the trade are more vigilant.

“The people who load the gas are not police, the tanker drivers are not police, and the gas station owners are not police,” said the superintendent. “All those who are involved must play their part.”

editorial@jamaicaobserver.com