JAMAICAN motorists may soon be able to purchase low-sulphur diesel within the next few months, according to the state-run oil refinery Petrojam.

“It is a work in progress, but hopefully, we should begin to import the low-sulphur diesel and make it available to the marketplace in the next four to six months,” Winston Watson, general manager of the Petrojam told Auto.

The general manager said work to facilitate this move was currently under way.

“We are currently preparing the infrastructure to receive, to store and to distribute the fuel,” he said.

The diesel fuel available in Jamaica is very high in sulphur and contains 5,000 parts per million (ppm), in comparison to 10 to 15 ppm which obtains in the First World countries. As a consequence, locally diesel operated vehicles need more frequent oil change and regulary servicing to maintain optimal efficiency.

Watson was quick highlight the fact that the high-sulphur diesel produced locally was in keeping with the specifications prescribed by law.

“If you look the specification as stated by the Jamaican law, that’s is the quality of diesel fuel that the refinery is producing,” he said.

He said plans were in the pipeline as well to do an upgrade of the refinery and when was completed low-sulphur diesel would be produced locally. He, however, gave no timeline for the completion of that project.

The quality of diesel fuel available has been a hot-button issue in the automotive sector from both new- and used-car dealers.

Kent LaCroix, chairman of the new-car importer group — Automobile Dealers Association (ADA) — said that globally there has been “quantum changes” in the specification of fuel and Jamaica needed to “move with the times”.

“We [the ADA members] look forward for low-sulphur fuel being available,” said LaCroix. “In fact, we had been working with the Bureau of Standards [Jamaica] to create a specification for low-sulphur fuel,” said LaCroix. “The performance of vehicles using this fuel will be considerably better.”

The chairman’s, used-car counterpart, Lynvalle Hamilton, has expressed similar sentiments.

“I think it’s a good move as the vehicles we import from Japan and Thailand are not compatible with the diesel fuel distributed in Jamaica,” said Hamilton.

The second-term president said he has known of instances where the engines of automobiles have been damaged because of the diesel fuel.

“Cleaner diesel fuel would be a boost to the used-car sector,” he said.

Adam Stewart, deputy chairman of ATL Automotive Limited — authorised dealers of Audi, Land Rover, Range Rover, Jaguar, Honda and Volkswagen — cited the environmental benefits of low-sulphur fuel at ATL Automotive opening in Bogue City, Montego Bay back in 2010.

“It’s not about the money. It’s about the environment and cleaner fuel is the beginning of this process,” Stewart said. “We have to protect our environment.”

Jamaica’s refinery, Petrojam was established when the government bought Kingston Refinery in established in 1982. In 2006, the government sold 49 per cent of its shares to PDV Caribe, a subsidiary of Petréleos de Venezuela.