SHARLENE RAMPERSAD
The Petroleum Dealers Association (PDA) is calling on Government to meet with them to discuss what will happen to their supply of fuel when Petrotrin is shut down on November 30.
Speaking at a press conference at the PDA’s office in Aranguez, San Juan, yesterday, president Robin Naraynsingh said they had been bombarded with questions from the motoring public about the continuation of fuel supplies post-Petrotrin.
“The PDA has been inundated with a lot of questions with regards to the uncertainty that now exists with the petroleum dealers and the closing of Petrotrin. There are a lot of ambiguities and uncertainties right now out in the public and this is causing a lot of anxiety,” Naraynsingh said.
“We as petroleum dealers are the ones who do the retail industry and we attend to between 300,000 to 400,000 people on a daily basis. As a result of this, we are being asked a lot of questions which we do not have the answers for, the ministry has not engaged us in any consultation to advise us of the rollout of this procedure of the closure of Petrotrin.”
Naraynsingh said the PDA has not been able to meet with Government to discuss the future of their fuel supply and they need some clarity.
“Before you roll out something like this you should have had some consultation with the people involved, so we can allay some of the fears of our customers, which we have not been able to do. We want to have some clarity on the issue, all of us here invest our private money and business needs a certain amount of stability and if we do not have stability it causes a lot of uncertainty.”
He said the PDA also has cost-saving suggestions they would like to present to the ministry if they get a chance.
“Since the product is being shipped to Petrotrin and they are the ones that have the terminals and bunkers, can the petroleum dealers, in an effort to mitigate the cost of fuel, go to Petrotrin directly and buy fuel?" he asked.
"Will that be a cost-saving factor on the population? Can we engage the ministry on this? But how do we get to the ministry when they do not interact with us? So these suggestions to mitigate the cost of fuel to the population, this is one of the suggestions the PDA would really like to explore.”
PDA member Marc Chin Aleong said another major concern for retailers is the reliability of a supply.
“As gas station operators, our concern is the cost of gas as delivered to us, the margin we would be able to make on it and the reliability and consistency of supply and to us. That is what the major issue is to us - what type of supply is it going to be?” he asked.
“Are we going to get it on a consistent basis? If there are expected stock outs, is there enough storage to maintain us over periods of time? Because if we do have to import it, what happens if a hurricane passes by and stops shipments from coming in?”
PDA secretary Saleema Sattar said dealers would also like to see the industry de-regularised, as they are struggling to keep businesses open while paying some 90 per cent of their profits in business levy and the Green Fund levy. She said the retail profit margin for Super and Premium Gas is 22 cents per litre and the margin for diesel and regular gas is 17 cents per litre.
“Our problem is that we have what you call an absolute margin as opposed to a fixed margin - it means that prior to the last increase we were making 17 cents regardless of how the price went up. So if the price is $1, you make 17 cents, if it's $2, you make 17 cents, if the price goes to $3, you are still making 17 cents and your gross profit comes down. In addition, our industry, having no control of the margin, have had to bear the brunt of very serious blows from a taxation perspective, business levy, Green Fund levy.”
She said after taxes, most dealers are left struggling to keep their businesses afloat.