Another crisis for NP stations

Eight service stations reported fuel being delivered with contamination of water. This is a very serious issue with major implications.

The Government-owned and operated National Petroleum Company Ltd (NP) appears to be at fault.

Petroleum dealers are already suffering from a meagre profit margin because of the imposition of a punitive 200 percent increase in the Green Fund and Business Levy.

Apart from this, these dealers also must contend with problems such as a lack of pump attendants, dilapidated service stations and competition from Unipet, a private entity.

The Minister of Energy (anyone knows who that is now?) and Finance Minister Colm Imbert have ignored repeated calls from the Petroleum Dealers Association for a revision of the current slim profit margin.

Now they may be held liable for damaging citizens’ vehicles because safety procedures and checks may have been ignored elsewhere.

The trust of the motoring public in the ability of the Government to operate service industries like NP properly and effectively is being questioned seriously.

This issue will have a further negative impact on operators and will create a crisis of confidence among the motoring public.

It could well result in a switch to Unipet, resulting in the loss of jobs at NP.

In addition, there is the real risk of several service station operators being forced out of business because of the inability to earn a profit in the face of growing operating costs.

The dramatic rollback on the achievements of the previous administration and board of directors is extremely unsettling and typifies a Government that may be red but certainly not ready.

The Government seems to have dropped the ball on this issue.

On February 20 in the House of Representatives, in response to a direct question from the Opposition, the acting Minister of Energy was unable to provide any explanation for the contaminated fuel being sold at NP service stations.

Not only is this a critical threat facing the service station industry, but it is also one that can have serious legal consequences for both State-owned NP and the Government.

The independent retailers receive their supplies from NP and, therefore, being the end of the custody chain, are not culpable for any contaminated products.

The Minister of Energy needs to immediately demand a full report from NP on this issue and ensure that all steps are taken to prevent any such reoccurrence.

Neil Gosine former chairman National Petroleum Co Ltd