Fernandez heads marathon meeting over propane gas flap

Santo Domingo.- President Leonel Fernandez met in the National Palace l Tuesday night with senior officials and propane gas distributors to find a solution to the latest problems in its marketing, for which it was agreed that a new regulation is needed to reflects the reality of the fuels supplied to domestic users.

"We just tried to reconcile comments and views, especially the Consumer Protection Agency, in relation to new regulation and is believed to be enacted soon to respond to concerns from different sectors, both the technical side of the Dominican Petroleum Refinery, as well as observations for users as the Consumer Protection Agency has done, " said Industry and Commerce minister Manuel Garcia.

The official’s statement refers to a push to force propane gas stations to sell the fuel by weight instead of by volume, the current practice which jeopardizes users.

Garcia said on Fernandez’s suggestion, the entities which deal with propane’s marketing, control and sale and distribution regulation shall reach a consensus within one week and meet again Tuesday to harmonize the different interests. "What we would like to see is how we will sell and control this type of product in the future. That’s what we’ll primarily base the round of talks on, technical negotiations to reach a solution as smooth as possible."

Standards and Quality Systems director Manuel Guerrero and Consumer Protection Agency director Altagracia Paulino, among other officials and business leaders also attended the meeting that lasted nearly three hours.