LP Gas home deliveries delayed as hundreds line up at distribution points

Regional LP gas distributor AustroGas says it could be several more days before its contractors can resume their normal home delivery routes. On Monday, following the agreement of the government and indigenous groups to end the 12-day national strike, AustroGas predicted that home delivery would resume as early as Tuesday or Wednesday.

LP gas home delivery service should return to normal within a few days.

According to National Police director Jorge Cabrera, the backlog was much larger than anticipated. “After a week-and-a-half of no new supplies the accumulated demand was much greater than AustroGas expected and they are still selling single canisters at the distribution points announced last week,” he said. “There are long lines and it will require two to three more days to satisfy the short-term need.”

Cabrera, who is responsible for crowd control at the distribution stations, said that hundreds were lined up Tuesday at the Av. Loja and Don Bosco and the Hermano Miguel and Sangurima stations where customers were exchanging an empty tank for a full one for $1.60. “If the home domestic delivery trucks were put on the street now they would be mobbed along the route and be unable to make their appointments.”

A spokesman for AustroGas says all roads are now open between its suppliers and the Cuenca fulfillment center. “We are resuming normal activity and all our delivery plans should soon be operational again.”