Leaving home without a spare tyre is something that one may want to reconsider, in light of the predicament which many motorists face when they try to find air pumps at local petrol and service stations.

But changes to improve this service may not be coming any time soon. This is because petrol station representatives across the island said that extending that courtesy to customers may cost up to $40, 000 for each pump per month.

“Gone are the days when people coulda count pon going gas station fi likkle air. Now is like dem a say dem haffi use gas fi drive so dem haafi buy it … like everybody a gang up now,” 43-year-old bus driver, Stephen Phillips said of the petrol stations in Kingston. He said that he has grown so weary of the situation that he no longer checks at petrol stations because he wants to spare himself the sad stories.

Another motorist, Collin Paine, shared a similar, but frightening experience. “Mi a move with some contract goods one day and mi two front wheel dem go soft. I struggle wid the vehicle to about four gas stations and there was no air,” he said

Paine said that he found it apalling that four petrol stations in close proximity had malfunctioning air pump facilities, and even those which had, cobwebs and rust had covered them. He described it as frightening and insisted that petrol stations need to improve their services.

Leonard Green, President of Jamaica Gasoline Retailers Association (JGRA) sought to provide clarity on the issue. “Providing air is a commercial activity that some gas stations have taken on, but the cost associated with the service is relatively high and in such a competitive business, retailers are forced make cost-effective cuts,” Green stated.

He said that under the Factories Act, all petrol stations with a compressor (air pump) on site must pay licensing and inspection fees in order to operate legally. The cost to maintain air pumps monthly is in the range of $ 30-40,000 and these are not the only costs they incur for maintainace monthly.

“The monthly maintenance fee, coupled with the other miscellaneous fees under the Factories Act and costs for replacing stolen hose and other accessories necessary to provide the service are among the expenses retailers have to look at,” Green said.

However, the JGRA president said that a group of retailers have met to discuss the challenge the customers are facing. In a bid to alleviate the inconvenience to motorists the group is comtemplating the implemenation of a coin-based system for use of the air services, similar the one used in the United States, and a few local petrol stations. This way, the companies can also make money to offset some of the costs associated with the service.

But the group is concerned that there is a split down the line between customers who are willing to pay and those who believe the service should be complementary or free. Green said that while the group has not decided on a fee, the service charge should be in the region of $20 and $50.

Some petrol station managers, and a few customers said the inaccessibility or abandonment of these air pumps are often times the doing of the very customers.

One manager at a New Kingston petrol station who asked not to be named, said vandalism of the pumps can be discouraging. “They steal the hose, and they break the machines, sometimes the machines look so broken as if they were in a fight. But we have a duty to our customers so we always try to ensure that as soon as there is a problem it is addressed,” he said.

Juliet Gidden, manager of a Spanish Town Texaco service station, said that her company does not ask customers to pay a service fee. However she has confirmed that in recent times theft has severely hampered the company’s ability to provide air to customers. “There has been an increase in theft of valuable company property. For us, we were not losing the hose as frequent, what we were losing mostly was the truck-a small metallic part [on the hose] and especially the bicycle guys, they would either destroy them or steal them. This means that we had to be calling maintenance and asking them to replace them two to three times every week.”

Gidden said that this forced them to implement an identification monitoring system for customers wishing to access the services provided by the petrol stations. She said that although this has not been unanimously accepted by customers, it is the best measure they could have implemented at the time to ensure that customers have access to air when they need it.

Taxi driver Nathaniel Brown said he also has to seek out a specific petrol station for air because of how scarce the service has become. He said that thieves have caused many petrol stations to implement measures to protect company property. “Dem affi a hol’ on pan di hose because a di thieving people dem.

“If wi waa fi use the air pump we just affi produce some form of ID, most time wi use wi driver’s licence. It kinda hassling still, ’cause wi haffi bring it inna the store, then we give ID and collect the hose, put in the air inna the car and bring back wi hose and collect the ID. We cyaa too blame the people dem … dem affi protect fi dem own, just in the same way weh wi woulda waa protect our thing too,” Brown added, as he pointed to the hose-less air pump at the station.

While Brown showed compassion to the petrol station owners, Ricardo Bennett has described the actions of stations as “unconscionable”, highlighting the many red flags he detects when considering the safety of women motorists.

“If the issue is money then ask us to pay the money. It is a simple matter of communication not rocket science. Our businesses continue to send reminders that we are a Third World country. But more than anything, I’m concerned for women. What will happen to them? It is bad enough that many of them can barely connect the hose to the tyre much less for them to find a tyre shop, which is what most of us men have resorted to. Have they seriously thought about the risk woman who may very well have to replace a flat tyre which could take God knows how long?”

He urged petrol station owners to bring back air pumps, and attach reasonable prices to the service. He said that he is sure many motorists would prefer if petrol stations implemented a pay-as-you-go service as opposed to doing a way with the service without consulting the customers.

“The relevant authorities have to step in. They have to make an effort to address this very dismal situation,” Bennett added.