Environment & Energy | Monday 9 February, 2015 7:51 am |

Makkah Gov. Prince Khaled Al-Faisal has called for a radical solution to prevent gas shortages.
His comment came during a meeting with National Gas and Industrialization Company (GASCO) chief Suleiman Al-Jishi on Sunday. Jishi stressed the problem will end in the next two days.

According to the Jeddah municipality, gas prices returned to their normal levels on Friday. It said there was no shortage in supplies or production and blamed administrative reasons for the problem.

Jeddah-based expats, however, claimed that they were still suffering because of alleged nepotism at gas agencies. They said that a number of customers were still queuing up outside supply stores with empty cylinders, while those with “right connections” avoid all the hassles.
Mohammed Khaleel, who runs a number of gas agencies in Jeddah, said his relatives and friends pressure him to find them small cylinders for the regular price of SR15 each. “To avoid embarrassment, I asked one of the workers to set aside some cylinders for them,” he said.

Rafiq Ali, a resident, confirmed the rampant nepotism. “Whenever I need a cylinder, I call a friend who works at a gas company,” Ali told Arab News.
Khaled Al-Subei’i, another resident, said this behavior is unacceptable and called upon relevant authorities to control the market and avoid such cases of preferential treatment.
A number of gas distributors, after incurring major losses, have spoken out about suing GASCO because of the crisis.
They blamed GASCO’s “inefficiency” for the crisis, which has caused many of them to close down shops.
Gas customers with diabetes, heart diseases, blood pressure and other similar illnesses say they would also sue GASCO as they were unable to queue up for long hours.
Experts say gas distributors have the right to sue the company.

“They can ask GASCO to compensate them as the company violated one of the contract’s items,” legal consultant Khaled Al-Dakkas, told Arab News.
Fahd Bajaj, owner of a local gas company, told Arab News: “Many people accuse us of hiding cylinders but we have no hand in this problem. I’m losing around SR6,000 in salaries per day.”
Ammar Khaled, manager of another gas firm, has fired a number of employees after the crisis.
“I only kept one employee. The gas company has to take responsibility and compensate me for my losses,” he said.