-scores left stranded

Persons were left stranded on Monday morning at the Anna Regina Car park as minibus and hire car drivers along the Essequibo Coast protested an increase in fuel prices.

The bus operators called on the authorities to intervene as they noted that the travelling public  will face the consequences.

At the moment the price of gasoline in the Cinderella Country hovers around $1054 dollars per gallon at all Guyana Oil Company (GuyOil) gas stations . Kerosene is being retailed at $668 while diesel  is being retailed at $1004 dollars.

According to operators the increase has placed an extra pressure on them and they noted that commuters are reluctant to pay an increase in the fare.

“The government need to waive the taxes on the gas so the prices can come down, right now passengers are not paying the increase and as such we are running at a loss,” mini bus operator, Insaan Ali related.

“From Regina to Charity they don’t want pay $200 and when you ask them for extra money they are telling us that they didn’t receive an increase in salary,” Joan Peters another operator related.

Some of the placards read “Gas price too high”, “Gas must go down”, “Gas need to drop or fare must raise”, “Raise of fare”, “One overload $5000 very hard”, “Pressure on bus and hire car men”.

President of the Hire Car and Minibus Association for Region Two (Pomeroon/Supenaam)  Mohammed Nazmul said that several factors which include the increase of prices for spare parts as well as fuel prices is related to the issues facing the vehicle owners. He said many of the operators took out mortgages  which they to re-pay at commercial banks.

“These operators came out here to do an honest job, they took loans and bought buses they have to reach their monthly installment, persons are refusing to pay the hike,” Nazmul said.

According to the Department of Public Information (DPI) ,  GuyOil has always maintained lower prices than the independent retailers so as to keep the market competitive.

As an importer Guyana has historically been vulnerable to oil price shocks. The DPI stated that world prices have shot up in recent weeks mainly due to the withdrawal of the United States from the Iran nuclear deal.

Impending sanctions against the oil producer which had ramped up production since 2016 would mean one million barrels per day being taken off world supplies. Brent crude oil topped $80 a barrel for the first time since 2014 in mid-May. (Indrawattie Natram)