Arugas N.V.

4 BUSINESS VIEW CARIBBEAN VOLUME 9, ISSUE 8 ARUGAS N. V . bad air, of course, but LPG. They were flaring it out, and the founders saw an opportunity to put this bad air into cylinders, bring it to households, and change the way of cooking.” When the company started, it had a few hundred customers. Today, Arugas serves 36,000 households and over 800 commercial customers, including large restaurants, hotels, and resorts that dominate the island’s coastline. “When the refinery closed, Aruba transitioned from refining oil to a tourist island and the economy grew like crazy,” Harsveld recalls. “Whereas we had a few hotels when the refinery was operating, after its closure, there was an explosion of large 500-600 room hotels, each with casinos, along with the numerous resorts.” Over the years, Arugas has changed hands and is currently owned by an investment consortium. Harsveld describes the company, today, as an end-to-end service provider offering a range of LPG-related services. “Besides supplying gas, we also have a department that designs LPG installations for new customers,” he says. “They take all the customer’s requirements, including tank capacity, gas lines, and safety equipment, and provide installation designs that our installation department then uses to complete the installation.” Another service area that Arugas has recently started pushing into is the conversion of gasoline motor vehicles to LPG fuel. Harsveld explains that this push is occasioned by high fuel prices and the need to reduce pollution. “We are seeing a lot of interest in this service, and as a company specializing in LPG, it’s a natural fit for us as we expand our service beyond our traditional residential and commercial cooking gas markets.” Other services Arugas provides in addition to gas supplies and installations are inspection and certification of gas installations and troubleshooting installations that might have leaks or other issues. The Arugas team consists of 58 employees, 10 of whom are contractors, who provide services to its almost 40,000 customers. Although some are skilled workers with a college education, Harsveld points out that many of the company’s workers are drivers and their aides. These positions do not require extensive qualifications and can often be filled by anyone who undergoes some in-house training. Jan Harsveld, Interim Managing Director Arugas & Managing Director Bonick Mariaine Croes, Business Development & HR Manager