Eustace: Put end to SOL impasse

Arnhim Eustace, Leader of the Opposition, is calling on the government to put an end to the impasse between SOL EC Limited and its supplier of Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG), Rubis West Indies Limited.{{more}}

Eustace, speaking on the New Times radio programme on Monday, said that the government needs to sit down and negotiate because “We don’t know how long people will do without cooking gas.”

He was of the view that the government could not leave the issue hanging and needed to take a decision one way or the other.

“Negotiate something rather than have people hanging out and can’t get gas at all,” Eustace said.

The impasse between SOL and its supplier Rubis resulted after the

supplier (Rubis) issued a statement

to SOL indicating that they had halted the supply of LPG until a resolution with the government, regarding the pricing mechanism for LPG was reached.

Rubis had been requesting an increase in prices, since they (Rubis) had been operating at a loss for some time.

However, LPG gas prices are controlled by the government and an increase in price would have to be approved by the government.

Eustace is of the view that it is because of the bad economy and the government not being in a position to absorb the increase in prices, why the price will probably be passed on to the consumer.

He further contended that the government was afraid to approve an increase in LPG, because they know the country is in a bad state.

“When it comes to cooking gas, there will be an outcry and they trying to prevent that,” the Leader of the Opposition said.

But according to Eustace, the government was only making things worse by holding out, because now, people are not getting cooking gas to purchase until the matter is settled.(DD)