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No Gasoline on Thursday If
Truckers Permits Not Renewed
Truckers and gasoline station
owners are fearing the worst: no
gasoline come Thursday, the day
that 900 transport concessions
expire.
Without the concessions, the
Refinadora Costarricense de
Petroleo (RECOPE) cannot permit
the trucks to load the gasoline,
which is then trucked to the
gasoline retailers.
Berny Ramírez, president of the
Asociación de Expendedores de
Combustibles, said that if the
situation isn't resolved by
Thursday, it will mean no
gasoline will be going to the
gasoline stations.
The Ministerio del Ambiente y
Energía (MINAE) is the
government agency responsible
for issuing the concessions
(permits) to the trucking
companies who carry hazardous
materials, including gasoline
products.
MINAE says it is working a "toda
maquina" - at full speed - to
approve the permits. Oscar
Porras, director of Transporte y
Comercialización de Combustibles
at MINAE, recognizes that the
process is a slow one, but
assures truckers that the
concessions will be ready by
Thursday.
Máinor Fuentes, president of the
Asociación de Transportistas del
Sector Energético, explained
that his group complied with all
the requirements and filed the
paperwork mid August. Fuentes
represents a group of 50
truckers.
Fuentes added that "simply, if
by the 17th the concessions are
not ready, we will not be able
to transport fuel."
MINAE has to ensure that each
truck meets the requirements
established, including having
the proper insurance policy to
cover accidents, that the motor
cab has the Riteve vehicular
inspection up to date and that
the tank is hermetically sealed.
Once all the requirements are
met, the application is reviewed
by MINAE's legal department and
ready for the signature of the
Minister.
Concessions are valid for a 2
year period.
Porras added that they about 90
applications left to process,
but did not say how many trucks
that permits it represents.
According to figures released by
RECOPE, 191 million litres of
gasoline fuel was sold to and
transported by truck to gasoline
stations last month.
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