The sale of domestic propane gas, used in households for cooking and to power certain motor vehicles, has been suspended for three days now. Most of the country’s supply stations remain closed and the reason for this is the government’s apparent failure to pay the RD$500 million owed in subsidies to the importers. Yesterday saw a desperate rush by domestic consumers, as well as many “publico” (shared taxi) drivers, who have converted their vehicles to run on this relatively inexpensive fuel. This situation could cause a significant number of transport vehicles to remain off the road until supplies return to normal. Transport union CNTU president Ramon Perez Figuereo accused the authorities of withdrawing supplies in an attempt to force a consumer price increase. He said it would not be the first time that this has happened, and called on the government to take immediate action to guarantee the gas supply to the public. The few supply stations still operating were swamped with demand, with some customers arriving as early as 5:00am to stand in line, according to reports in the papers. The government had promised to keep the retail price of gas at RD$25 per gallon, with compensation to the wholesalers and importers for any discrepancy. The current cost to the suppliers is over RD$30 per gallon.