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While the government is determined to prevent the increase in bus fares by keeping the price of fuel below the $1000 mark, the operations at the state owned Guyana Oil Company (GUYOIL) is certainly undermining the initiative.Fuel station owners who are contracted to the state owned company are up in arms over the infrequent supply of gasoline, diesel and kerosene.For the past two weeks, GUYOIL’s contracted dealers have been forced to close their operations,<a href="http://www.chinacheapnfljerseys.us.com/">Wholesale Jerseys Free Shipping</a> http://www.chinacheapnfljerseys.us.com/, sometimes for as much as two days due to the irregular and short supply of fuel by GUYOIL.This, they said, is affecting their business as well as undermining the government’s plan to maintain a reasonable price for fuel on the local scene in light of the skyrocketing acquisition cost for the commodity worldwide.Efforts to contact the management of GUYOIL for the past two weeks have been futile.Telephone calls were made to the Managing Director, who is always at a meeting, as well as the manager of the GUYOIL Bulk Terminal, all of which went unreturned.A check along the East Coast of Demerara and the West Coast Berbice areas revealed that out of a total of eight GUYOIL contracted fuel stations, only two of them were operating.While most of the dealers declined to comment, fearing victimisation, one dealer who was operating yesterday, told this newspaper that he was lucky to obtain a few thousand litres of gasoline to sell over the weekend.He noted, however, that his supply would not last long and he is uncertain if he would be able to maintain his customers during the coming week.The dealers lamented that although GUYOIL cannot meet their demands, they are prevented from purchasing from other fuel companies, even though their businesses could suffer dire consequences.It was explained that whenever GUYOIL runs out of fuel, they end up purchasing from another company at a higher price than which they are selling.This newspaper was told that the excuse given by the state owned fuel company, is that “the boat bringing fuel was late”.A source at GUYOIL disclosed that the vessel bringing fuel for the company arrived in port Georgetown on Wednesday last and was offloaded on Thursday.But since the dealers were already short on their previous supply, the latest shipment was gobbled up in a hurry, forcing GUYOIL to ration the amount given to each dealer.This led to accusation of discrimination with dealers who were shortchanged claiming that the company was favouring its “friends”.“Is this how they are running a government business?” one dealer asked.This newspaper understands that the boat bringing fuel for GUYOIL takes three weeks to reach Port Georgetown from the supplier and with the present supply already depleted, fuel dealers are expecting a bleak future.“Since time immemorial, all GUYOIL contracted stations, except for a few, their own and their friends, have been out of fuel. The mini buses don’t have access to the cheap fuel. And where does that leave them?? They certainly will have to increase their fares,” another dealer reasoned.According to the dealer, other fuel stations contracted to the other fuel companies, like Texaco, are selling for up to $60 more per gallon.“These people (GUYOIL) only giving you 5000 lites and within half day, it finish. People are rushing the cheap fuel. They say it is too expensive to hire another boat but how come it is not expensive for the other companies?? This thing is getting overbearing. Sometimes we have to literally beg GUYOIL,” the dealer told Kaieteur News.A familiar sign that greets customers at the GUYOIL contracted fuel stations.Meanwhile, with the short supply of fuel at the GUYOIL contracted outlets, the government will be hard pressed to prevent the cost of public transportation from being raised.Kaieteur News understands that only the GUYOIL run stations can guarantee a regular supply of gasoline, diesel and kerosene for the time being.
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