The quest for cylinders

Having been on the island for about a year, as an ex-pat UK citizen I am amazed at the chaos and general discomfort caused by the recent gas cylinder shortage. Also by Enemalta's and the authorities' apparent reluctance to make any serious attempt to solve it.

Unless there are forces at work here that I do not recognise, a number of changes should be put into effect now, to ease the situation and to remove it completely.

The current monopoly should be removed. The government should invite non-Maltese gas distributors/manufacturers onto the island to set up distribution systems. There are many around in the EU, where competition is quite strong and surely they would welcome a new market. Maltese businesses should be allowed to operate, under a licence to import and distribute gas. By all means let Enemalta stay in the market but with competition. Allow any petrol station to sell gas cylinders. It requires only a secure outdoor storage area to be built and the safety requirements are unlikely to be more than those required currently to hold petrol stocks. Many garages in the UK sell cylinders.

Allow hardware stores to retail gas cylinders, as they do now, but rather than buying them from the current source let them get them wholesale and compete with the distributors. Again in the UK, cylinders are sold wherever heaters are retailed. My personal experience, which I suspect is not unique, would be amusing were it not so pathetic and generally stupid.

I came to the island last July, bought an apartment and had a new kitchen installed. New gas hob - no gas cylinder, rang Enemalta, who told me I needed to go on a list.

There was apparently a waiting list for gas cylinders even then. After a few weeks I rang Enemalta again, explained that no one had delivered any cylinder nor had been in touch. I then discovered that the gas man on the lorry is not employed by Enemalta and is not under their control. I was given a mobile number of the man with the gas lorry. The phone was nearly always switched off. I finally got through and at first he only wanted to talk to me in Maltese, despite the fact that I told him I only spoke English.

Eventually, when he discovered that I did not have an empty bottle to exchange, he wanted nothing to do with me and told me I had to go to Enemalta. I rang Enemalta again, explained the problem, said I was on a waiting list and enquired that as I had no gas at all, no empty cylinder, no source of gas, could I come and collect a new cylinder and get into the system. Yes I was told. Remember this was August. Down I went to Enemalta at Birzebbuga telling the lady there that I had come for a gas cylinder.

Problem, big problem, unsolvable problem, apparently. No empty cylinder, no gas. I know it seems silly and I asked whether I could buy an empty cylinder which I could then swap for a full one? No. "We don't sell empty bottles," I was told. Nor, it would seem, full ones.

I have since accosted drivers with lorries full of both empty and full cylinders and got no service. I actually got a full big cylinder from a store in St Paul's Bay. It was one of several they own for their own use, on the understanding that I would return it when it was empty, which I will probably do. I also bought two small barbeque size cylinders, as stand by.

I have not heard a word from Enemalta and their waiting list, and probably never will.