Employees of Arthur Bodden 7-11 store stand next to a kerosene tank, which is no longer in use at that George Town establishment.

By Kevin Shereves
kevin@caymannetnews.com

The use of kerosene oil has been a Caymanian tradition for many decades – especially during hurricane season -- but now residents will have to find alterna-tives, as the product is no longer available in Grand Cayman.

According to the experts, kerosene has been replaced with more modern alternatives such as propane, electricity and natural gas.

The last known retailer of kerosene, Arthur Bodden 7-11 store in George Town, said it was too expensive to maintain supply.

“The fact that we no longer supply kerosene oil is a shame. We have carried it since I was a child. We have carried it for at least 60 years. Kerosene oil is a Cayman tradition but since they jacked up the price of kerosene we could no longer afford it,” said storeowner Arthurlynn Scott.

“They have made it extremely difficult for us to carry it and I understand that it must now be ordered from Jamaica. The tank at the side of the store belongs to Chevron and it needs to be replaced. We have had to close the book on kerosene oil because the tank is no longer usable.

“For the lower income population kerosene oil is still a staple during hurricane season. There are also car and cleaning companies that use kerosene for cleaning purposes such a boat engines and many people still use it to clean their brushes when using oil paint. “Kerosene has many uses and can even be used for medical purposes. It kills coughs and poisons and it is a multi-purpose item.”

Fire Chief Dennon Bodden said that fewer resident use kerosene since the advent of other alternatives.

“A lot of older people used to use kerosene oil but now lamp oil is being used commercially for lamps and torches. Kerosene is hardly used in Cayman because there are more efficient alternatives available such as batteries, electricity, propane and lamp oil, which are widely available,” he said.

Shiann Powery, Executive Officer at Hazard Management Cayman Islands, said there is lack of demand for the product locally.

“My understanding is that the organisation that used to carry kerosene oil no longer carries it because the demand was low and the product was no longer profitable. The appliances that used to run on kerosene oil are no longer widely used. They have been replaced by lamp oil, propane, natural gas, electricity and solar,” he said.

“There are many suitable substitutes available on the Island for kerosene and so there should not be a problem in the event of a hurricane.”

Simon Boxall, Awareness and Communications Officer for Hazard Management Cayman Islands, experienced the use of the oil.

“The availability of other alternatives means that kerosene is no longer widely used. It is possible, however, that there are some people that still use it. Up until the age of 10 I remember kerosene being widely used but that was 30 years ago,” he said.

“The usage of smaller barbeque sized propane tanks has dramatically increased over the past 15 years and as a result dependence on kero-sene has been reduced.”

Gary McTaggart Chief Petroleum Inspector in the Ministry of District Administration, Works and Gender affairs, said that other oils are more readily available in Cayman.

“Lamp oil is available off the shelf, which is very close to kerosene. My family and I stock up on lamp oil. We also keep a good stock of batteries and flash lights as a part of hurricane preparedness,” he said.

According to www.wikipedia.org, kerosene, sometimes spelled kerosine in scientific and industrial usage, also known as paraffin, is a combustible hydrocarbon liquid. The name is derived from Greek keros.

The word Kerosene was registered as a trademark by Abraham Gesner in 1854 and for several years only the North American Gas Light Company and the Downer Company (to which Gesner had granted the right) were allowed to call their lamp oil kerosene, the website said.