The Minister of Trade and Energy, Vince Henderson, has revealed that the government is on top of the fuel situation in Dominica. Henderson said the DLP administration is aware of the biting fuel shortage as well as consumers’ complaints as to the overall quality of the commodity.
The minister also said the government is working on establishing a massive fuel storage facility in the country to alleviate delayed fuel delivery to the Island.
Addressing the problem of fuel scarcity in the country, the trade minister said this was due to severe weather conditions in the Caribbean in recent times. He said rough seas made it impossible for heavy fuel tankers to dock or distribute fuel products in Antigua and Barbuda, from where smaller fuel tankers will deliver them to Dominica.
He added that the lingering queues at filling stations will soon become history since he has credible information that shipments of fuel products are scheduled for delivery to Dominica on December 22, 25, and 27. He said the delivery will end fuel shortage and scarcity as well as rationing, while the government has set up the necessary agencies to test for acceptable product quality.
I met with the staff of the Ministry of Trade last week; one of the things that I raised is our capacity to test the quality of fuel that gets on island and to identify any factor that is affecting the quality of fuel on island. So that is something we will be looking at.
Hon. Vince Henderson, Minister of Trade and Energy
The minister stated that the Skerrit government is working to set up adequate fuel storage facility in the country. He said this will ensure adequate fuel availability in Dominica if it happens that regional suppliers are not able to deliver the commodity to the country for whatever reasons. He said with the proposed construction of an international airport, getting a facility to store Jet A1 fuel would be very necessary in the current circumstances.
That situation is being addressed. We have taken the decision; I have received the support from our prime minister…clearly we need to deal with the issue of storage to ensure that we can have adequate supply of fuel. The plan essentially is to ensure that we can get storage to higher levels. So we are looking at the whole storage of fuel as part of our strategic plan towards a more resilient Dominica.
Hon. Vince Henderson, Minister of Trade and Energy
Meanwhile, UWP political leader Thomson Fontaine said the Skerrit administration should look inward to deal with the fuel crisis by opening up talks with Rubis. The fuel company suspended operational activities some weeks ago in Dominica due to regulated pump prices that is making them reportedly run at a loss. Thomson said the government should return to the negotiation table with Rubis and Petro Caribe to ensure that fuel availability remains uninterrupted in the country – a situation that Henderson has promised to look into.
This article is copyright © 2022 DOM767
