Dominicans now have to dig a little deeper into their pockets to pay for fuel, following an announcement by Director of Trade, Matthan Walter of a price increase–in effect from November 21, 2022.
“As of today [Monday] the 21st day of November 2022 the prices of petroleum products, specifically gasoline, diesel, and kerosene experienced an increase,” he said.
He revealed that gasolene increased from $14.99 per gallon to $15.94 per gallon, a 95 cents increase, while high Sulphur diesel increased from $15.57 to $16.72 per gallon, and kerosene from $14.88 per gallon to $15.04 per gallon, an increase of 16 cents.
“Those increases in the commodity prices stem from underproduction by the OPEC member-states. They have been producing below their usual daily rate of production,” Walter explained.
According to him, there are also negative demand projections.
“The ease of Covid restrictions in China, worries of recession, and of course a stronger dollar and so we are experiencing the same in Dominica,” he stated.
Walter gave reasons for the inconvenience of long lines which started on Sunday (November 20) into Monday (November 21) at the petrol stations.
“Those long lines are triggered by social media reflections, which to my mind should not be the guide by which persons decide to rush to take certain actions,” Walter remarked.
He mentioned that the importers of petroleum products are very clear on the daily demand and consumption, “they also have a schedule for importation.”
“So our main importer imports every 10 days and when there is a surging demand when there is unprecedented demand, such as the demand for mainly gasoline during the World Creole Music Festival and also now that we have an ongoing election when there is a lot of movement of vehicles on the ground, they are aware of it and import accordingly,” Walter explained.
He continued, “But, when you have a situation where persons read something on social media and then they share it very quickly with friends, without first touching base with the Ministry of Trade to find out what exactly is the situation on the ground…because each individual importer that provides petroleum to their petrol station outlets, they know what happens in their own space.”
He indicated that the Ministry of Trade knows what happens in every space where those particular controlled products are sold.
“And so without hearing from the Ministry of Trade, [people] begin making long lines and buying much more products than they need to be able to conduct their daily or weekly related activities,” Walter remarked.
This he said causes an artificial demand for the product.
“Long lines which cause stagnation in persons moving to go about their daily routines for no particular reason,” he stressed. “The outcome of that is they reduce the stocks of petroleum products in Dominica, thereby in as much as possible putting our country in a state of economic energy security risk.”
Walter believes that Dominicans can do better.
He believes that people need to have a sense of confidence in those who import.
“The rumors that are going around that there will be no gas for the week…” said Walter.
He countered that with reports that petroleum products were made available to the public on Monday evening and today, Tuesday, November 22, two vessels will arrive to satisfy whatever energy demands that are present in Dominica.
“There is no need to [rush] to the pumps, there is no need to keep buying out stock and storing it at your homes,” he advised. “There is always going to be a flow of petroleum products in Dominica to meet consumer demands so there is no need to panic.”
Walter reiterated the fact that there is a schedule of vessels coming into Dominica to ensure that demands are met, “and there are times when there is going to be unprecedented demands, like the times we are experiencing now from Creole Festival to the election cycle and allocations are being made for that.”
You know why . Because people dont trust the government . If something was wrong you all wont even tell people so they go on what they hear . Most times the government takes long before even saying anything . When you all develop trust then ppl will listen . You saying this here and people dont even believe you
Mr trade officer why is the gas station at marigot closed and the one in Wesley always out of gas? Creole fest pass long and election campaign low down stop the excuses and lies lies we not fools
Walter, is it true that a Petro Caribe employee had been suspended without pay after allegedly telling the fuel ship operator that they can leave port because the government cannot meet the demand for a cash transfer.
So how it is then that the former Petro Caribe operation supplying fuel to island cannot pay their bills? Well, it’s rumoured that there is widespread racketeering taking place at the former Petro Caribe operation. First of all, the government ministers and other members of cabinet are able to fill-up their tanks free of charge. But we know how these hungry hyenas operate. Some fuel dispensing logs at the Petro Caribe site show that ministers of government receiving full tanks of fuel up to 7and 8 times a day. When a minister’s name is logged in 8 times in one day it’s because Parl. Reps have been sending people to fill up their tanks free of charge all day long- we are talking buses, trucks, SUVs all owned by loyal DLP supporter and other loyal visitors from abroad.
Whilst all you have to pay higher fuel prices the dictator, his ministers and members of the cabal are allegedly filling up free of charge at the PetroCaribe site. All you should take your vehicle there and do the same.
On a slightly different note, could it be that they had to put prices up because the supplier asked for more money since previous invoices had been paid late by the government? You see what a competent government Dominica got? They make constant mistakes and all you have to pay for it.
All labor supporters will pay less than UWP follows. So keep those Red Caps on and the gas ⛽️ stations will charge you less. Ebeh mi twaka un payee la. Good job Skerro. Just tell them that the gas price will be going down “under de new labor,” Boy look laugh 😆
Prices increasing just before an election. NOT GOOD!
What did this man just say? It’s hard to believe him after giving such a convoluted explanation. These people in control never have a simple answer to a question. That brings into question whether they are speaking the truth or not.
Take what yall get. No ideas just same taxation without representation. Enriching themselves as a result everyone wants to be on the bandwagon. What’s in it for me band wagon. Train!
John jay. a word of advise. Go and learn to spell. Do you understand what you wrote?
A ….. like you making disparaging remarks about someone’s spelling and comments. This is a classic case of the pot calling the kettle black. Typical goon of Skerrit.
The government is increasing FURLEL on the POPULCAE and they want you all VOTE what ashame. Take this and VOTE THEM OUT. It has just started.
John jay. a word of advise. Go and learn to spell. Do you understand what you wrote?
If the dictator succeed with his snap election, woe be unto Dominicans concerning food, fuel and hardware prices.
After the election, with all seats corruptly his, look for electricity, water, vehicle tax, hospital fees, in fact, many more necessities of life to rise exponentially.
This is true. In any country where there is no political opposition to keep the government in check, Iive usually becomes unbearable for the average citizen. Just look at North Korea, Syria, and closer to home, Cuba and Venezuela.
Whose fault there is no opposition? Well choo pool, take what all you get . Labour in control and run things.
Choo pool to you, because you refuse to accept that the ground under your feet is sinking. continue to build your foundation there. At least those of us who accept the reality have a better chance because we are mentally prepared.
Mr. Walter, as with every other male that follows Skerrit, has been neutered. So he comes out in public embarrassing himself with those lies and explanations that make no sense.
They were proud back in July to announce that the gas price in St. Lucia was $17.95 a gallon as if they were heroes to have gas price at $16.57. Now Rubis has left they can’t keep up with basic demands, they want to blame everyone else but themselves. The same way Skerrit says that his parl. reps were not working. its everyone else fault but his. If my new employer said that his past employees were not working and threatens to fire any other person who does not perform I would be skeptical.
asshole fuel price has nothing to do with rubis closing and election go search for facts about fuel and pricing and come and make an argument and spend time watching bloomberg
Uninformed, Rubis and West Indies oil were operating at a loss in Dominica. Get to know people in high places in the private sector and you will have an idea of what is going on. They Government makes a lot of money from fuel sales here and they won’t take a smaller cut because of course they have cash flow issues.
Don’t you see that Labour party does not have money to give their supporters to vote? with only one month to campaign the excuse is they don’t have time to process payments.
Your government owes National Bank millions that they can’t pay back.
you-all Skerrit supporters are like a woman whose man keeps abusing her and she keeps staying with him.
I want Skerrit to Win all 21 seats let him inherit the mess that he made. He is running out of tricks and in a few years even BLIND PEOPLE LIKE YOU will see the truth.
You seem to have basic cognitive difficulties. If you listen to Bloomberg or any other credible news outlet you should have expected a rise in fuel prices earlier in the year.
so why did your dear hero, Skerrit, come out with a cape on his back pretending to shield us from high fuel prices?
it’s because he knows that he has to lie to keep fooling imbeciles like you . To try to convince the public that he is working for them.
Now that it has all gone to hell, he fires his Minister of Trade as if this fuel fiasco was his fault.
But i can’t blame people like you. Imbeciles lack the ability to analyze information. They can’t even perform basic dot joining tasks.
Carry on with your false sense of comfort.
I have transferred all my money from NBD to my British bank account. The sign of collapse have been on the wall for a while now. I’m not prepared to loose my cash the same way my brothers lost everything due to the collapse of an insurance company. Who exactly was the representative/owner of this company? The same person is still going, better then ever…
Lies, lies and more lies, see for yourself people https://oilprice.com/oil-price-charts/
you can notice from the graph oil has actually gone down!
These people really believe that all Dominicans are stupid. We are fast becoming like Haiti, Venezuela and Cuba.