NO GAS pump has been rejected by the Bureau of Standards Jamaica (BSJ) since the start of the year.

Fay Bailey, inspectorate manager at the BSJ, said 2009 has been free flowing so far. However, the senior executive was unable to say if the regulatory agency barred any gas station with inaccurately delivering pump nozzles from serving the public last year.

While it is the bureau's job to protect the public from being ripped off at the gas pumps, Bailey refused to divulge the names of gas stations with pumps that have been rejected in the past. "The gas stations are clients of the BSJ and, as such, we can't give their names and locations," she said.

However, Bailey pointed out that no pump across the island currently bears the bureau's badge of shame - a 'rejected' sticker. The bureau said no sticker is required on pumps that are delivering accurately.

Bailey explained that the modus operandi of the BSJ is not to police the pumps but to approve new ones before they are commissioned into service, and conduct random tests thereafter.

"There is nowhere in the world where 100 per cent inspection is done," she said.

Bailey explained that a seal, designed to prevent usage, is placed on all pumps adjudged faulty. If that seal is unlawfully broken, the pump would then be padlocked and the proprietors could be dragged before the courts. "We have never had to do anything like that," she said.

Rigged to rob purchasers

Bailey added that the BSJ tries to ensure that a pump does not go a year without being tested. How-ever, she admitted that this does not always happen. Still, she insisted that the agency has enough manpower and resources to fulfil its mandate. Bailey said the BSJ has never encountered a pump that was rigged to rob purchasers.

Ellis James Laing, acting information manager, said that the majority of gas stations are in compliance with the regulations "as they are fully aware of the regulations under the Weights and Measures Act, 1976".

While the regulatory functions of the BSJ require gas pumps across the country to be checked throughout the year on a random basis, the bureau also operates a Gas Pump Certi-fication Programme. Under this initiative, every pump nozzle, of the participating stations, is tested to ensure that they are delivering accurately.

"These pumps are identified with a 'PASS' sticker. This programme ensures that the gas pumps of the participating retailers are checked on a regular basis and are issued with the appropriate stickers on each pump," read a section of a release issued by the BSJ.

The bureau pointed out that 284 of the current 298 gasolene retailers islandwide participate in the Gas Pump Certification Programme.

tyrone.reid@gleanerjm.com