Lockington's Everyday Fiji ... Life Goes On

WEEKEND READING   ♦ Rudd Takes His Eye off Pacific Islands ♦ People's Charter, Pillar 4 Public Service Efficiency: for Discussion ♦ Father Arms Corrects Me on the Charter's Proposed Voting System ♦ Kevin Rudd Takes His Eye off Pacific Islands.  I had hoped to publish " Two Viewpoints on the Alleged Torture of Detainees"   but this will now be deferred for two weeks due to  the Amnesty International NZ CEO being temporarily unavailable.

 
Allen Lockington is a self-employed customs agent and business consultant who has regular articles published in Fiji. I thank Allen for permission to reprint some of them in this political blog. They remind us that life goes on, whatever the political situation. And  it's good to know that.

Fuel Quality

We drove to Suva from Lautoka on the weekend and left at 5 am. The tank was empty so we filled $50 fuel at  a service station in Lautoka. When we reached Walu Bay in Suva we had to fill $20 again because the needle was sitting right  on the “E” portion of the meter. We could not risk it.

In the past, I always knew that $50 could take us to Suva and perhaps back to Lami where we would fill again. But anyway I called a friend who knows things about fuel and he said to fill from different service station in Suva who had a different fuel suppler. Just to get statistics correct I filled $50 for the return trip and I filled from a Mobil service station. When we arrived in Lautoka around 5 pm, we still had just a little below the quarter tank mark. I also noticed that when I filled at the Mobil service station I noticed a little difference in quantity. We seemed to get a little more at the Flagstaff  service station.

Now here are some burning questions. Is the petrol pump in Lautoka faulty and does not give the correct liters for $50? Is the petrol pump in Mobil Oils service station in Flagstaff incorrect and gives a little more? Which of the two pumps are correct? Does the  fuel from the service station in Lautoka burn faster because it is lighter?

Most important, are the unleaded fuels in Fiji supplied by the different oil companies, different in quality?

Perhaps the oil companies can make it their issue and do a survey to determine if fuel is indeed different in quality.  They could all give me $50 fuel to drive to Suva and back in the same car with same driver. The car would be driven at the same times of the day.

Many people only buy from one service station and don’t get to notice any difference. The reason they do this is because of loyalty to the service station, because they get monthly bills or are offered other services at competitive rates than what is offered by others. Good business is healthy competition.  We could also do a Fiji-wide test and engage and ask drivers how many kilometres they travelled for $10, $20, $50 or more of fuel.

May I suggest that vehicle owners try buying fuel from different service stations to get a better feel of what I am talking about.

And would the oil companies do the exercise with me as witness?