Cooking gas

Costa Rica's executive branch is criticizing changes to the method used for setting fuel prices as proposed by the Public Services Regulatory Authority (ARESEP), arguing the move would increase prices of other products, particularly cooking gas.

An evaluation by the Public Services Regulatory Authority found that 61 percent of propane cylinders currently in use lack appropriate information and 23 percent have some kind of physical damage.

The Costa Rican Consumers Association is asking the Environment Ministry and lawmakers to ban aluminuim gas cylinders and to demand that gas companies replace them with tanks made of iron or polymer.

Early on Monday Gas Zeta announced it will dismiss 275 of its employees who fail to show to work. At around 5:30 p.m. company's representatives said they set a Thursday deadline for workers to resume their jobs.

The Costa Rican Oil Refinery allowed entrance of Gas Zeta's tankers into their plants on Thursday and restarted selling propane to the company, who's ownership is under dispute.

The ensuing legal drama for ownership of Gas Zeta has left its propane customers in Costa Rica — nearly 70 percent of the country — scrambling to find cooking fuel for homes, restaurants, hotels, hospitals, schools and even prisons.