Time to say adiós, Texaco

25.JULY.08

Editor: The prolonged military activity in Iraq, Afghanistan and the Middle East, in general, remains the origin of the continuing escalation of the outrageously high cost of crude oil in the world, with no end in sight.{{more}}

The solution in neither the short nor long term should be that the rich countries should give money to the poor countries. Effectively, when reviewed in its entirety, it is the rich countries that are giving this money back to themselves. The solution, therefore, has to be an urgent and drastic reduction in the cost of fuel to the poor countries.

In our own St. Vincent and the Grenadines (SVG), the cost of providing that most basic commercial commodity, “ELECTRICITY”, continues to be way over the head of every sector of our lives: Private and Commercial. To the extent that the very thought of expanding and gainfully utilizing what we have, the cost of electricity is a depressant.

The original PETRO CARIBE fuel agreement with Venezuela offered a forty per cent payment on the supply with the remaining sixty per cent over a twenty-five year period at a rate of one per cent interest. A week ago, that forty per cent is now to be paid in ninety days whilst the remaining sixty per cent remains unchanged.

There is this unspoken feeling among quarters of the rich, educated and affluent that the poor are themselves poor because of their own poverty.

The new PETRO CARIBE Agreement allows VINLEC to receive diesel fuel for the electricity generating plants. Effectively, VINLEC no longer needs cash to operate, simply because VINLEC’s consumers would have paid almost three consecutive months consumption that in itself allows VINLEC to maintain the recently increase UNIT PRICE, whilst at the same time drastically reducing if not removing its present burdensome fuel surcharge.

Unfortunately, VINLEC is not in the position to capitalise on this forty per cent payment after ninety days because it does not have the storage facilities and is not likely to have that until some time in 2009. This is an awfully painful and long period to sit and wait whilst before our very eyes, daily, our social and economic values and vision are not ours to choose.

Just after the 1973 war in the Middle East, SHELL and ESSO were our two suppliers of fuel (gas and Diesel). For whatever reason, ESSO sold out and left. Shell expanded. Texaco is represented by St. Vincent Motors Limited. Incidentally, Texaco stations in St. Vincent are the only filling stations which do not carry both gasoline and diesel. Not only that, Texaco outlets in St. Vincent are virtually non existent when compared to its rival.

There is certainly no reason whatsoever why St. Vincent Motors Limited should not be persuaded (in the national interest) to store and perhaps retail the PETRO CARIBE fuels, and ISN’T IT TIME TO SAY ADIOS, TEXACO?

S.M. Quammie