– Director-General Harmon

Government is monitoring the fuel shortage affecting several Hinterland areas, including the North West District, which sources the commodity from neighbouring Venezuela.
DIRECTOR General of the Ministry of the Presidency, Joseph Harmon, told media operatives at a post-Cabinet briefing on Friday that the situation arose from the rationing of fuel which is allowed to cross the border into Guyana.

He said while there is no problem with diesel, the Guyana Energy Agency (GEA) is in touch with the situation. He said there are concerns, especially by miners, about a tax which is placed on the fuel from Venezuela and they are asking for the removal of same. “That is a consideration which the Guyana Energy Agency and the Guyana Revenue Authority will have to consider,” he said.

He said it is government’s concern that the residents in affected areas “do not suffer any hardship” as a result of what is happening in Venezuela.
An option would be taking the fuel from the capital city and this move is among several which the GEA will have to consider, Harmon said.

The price of gasoline in Region One (Barima-Waini) increased as a result of a shortage of the commodity there due to the ongoing socio-economic crisis in Venezuela.
The GEA said earlier last week that although it has not received a formal notification of a fuel shortage in Region One, it is aware that there is a shortage. “Reports received have suggested that there is a shortage of gasoline in Venezuela, from where most of the fuel in Region One originates. This has naturally led to a reduction in gasoline imported into the region; the supply of diesel has been unaffected,” GEA Chief Executive Officer, Dr Mahender Sharma, told this newspaper last week.

In the Barima-Waini district, residents and business operators depend heavily on fuel imported from Venezuela. The imported fuel is checked at the port of Morawhanna; the authorities usually add a tax to the fuel when it arrives there before it is distributed by tradesmen to other parts of the region. However, due to the ongoing economic crisis in Venezuela, the authorities there have reportedly clamped down on the trade of fuel across the border, a move which is directly impacting the economy of Region One with locals being forced to pay higher taxi and minibus fares, which have risen by 100 per cent.
Regional Chairman Brentnol Ashley, in an interview with the Guyana Chronicle on Tuesday, said the Barima-Waini district has been experiencing a shortage of gasoline for the past five weeks; however, the situation has worsened recently.

To cushion the impact, the regional chairman has recommended that government consider relaxing the $5,000 GRA tax on every barrel that is coming in until such time that we could have a smooth flow of fuel in the region, and that through GUYOIL, if they have a tanker to come to the region and sell to business persons, so that the prices could drop.