Shortage of LP gas, cement on Tinian

Tinian has a shortage of liquefied petroleum gas and cement for construction projects, forcing residents to either use butane gas for cooking or individually pay for shipment of LPG and cement from Saipan at a higher cost.

“This started months after Tinian lost its only stevedoring business. The volume of LPG and cement that can go into Tinian has decreased,” Tinian and Aguiguan Legislative Delegation chairman and Senate Vice President Jude Hofschneider (R-Tinian) told Saipan Tribune.

Peter Ballesteros, manager of Crystal Clear, the only distributor of 90-lb LPG cylinder on Tinian, said they stopped shipping LPG from Guam because of a lack of stevedoring service on the island.

He said Crystal Clear, which has been operating for some eight years, used to sell 90-lb LPG cylinder for $197.

“When stevedoring stopped, we thought about using another ship going from Tinian to Saipan and back, but that would mean an additional $90 for the shipment alone so that will increase the price to $287. Customers won’t be able to afford paying that for a 90-lb cylinder of LPG. If they can’t afford it, what’s the use of selling the product?” Ballesteros said in a phone interview.

Liquefied petroleum gas is usually used as fuel for gas stoves.

Ballesteros said that Tinian residents have resorted to using butane gas for cooking.

Separate checks at Tinian stores yesterday revealed that a pack of butane gas now costs $4.25 to $4.50, from only $3.99 a few weeks ago.

Residents and businesses with their own boats have started using their boats to go to Saipan just to buy two to three 90-lb cylinders of LPG, some Tinian residents said. But they said such transportation may alarm the U.S. Coast Guard.

Some businesses and households have also turned to SN-Five to ship 90-lb cylinders of LPG and cement for their individual uses.

“We’re still hoping that stevedoring business will return to Tinian so that we can again ship from Guam,” Ballesteros added.

Jenifer Dela Cruz, accountant at FPA Pacific Corp., which is the lone distributor of cement products on Tinian, said they also had difficulty bringing cement products to Tinian because of a lack of stevedoring service.

“Big containers from Saipan are no longer shipped here because there’s no stevedoring service. As a result, we could no longer sell and distribute cement on Tinian,” Dela Cruz said.

She said others also now go through SN-Five for individual shipment of cement products from Saipan.

Hofschneider said the Tinian Legislative Delegation, at its next session, would be able to act on his local bill that would establish a Tinian Stevedoring Division within the Office of the Tinian Mayor. He pre-filed the bill in February, four months since the island lost the services of a private firm, Tinian Stevedore, that loads and offloads vessels at its port.

The Tinian Mayor’s Office said the only means of getting new supply to Tinian, SN-5 Shipping, “is already swamped and unable to maintain pace with demand for dry goods and construction materials.”