Guyoil raises fuel price

– public transportation users fear increased fares

As the country continues to experience an economic downturn, the challenges consumers face will likely increase as the Guyana Oil Company (Guyoil) on Saturday announced that there will be increases in fuel prices. These increases will take effect today and have been premised on the backdrop of an upward trend in the acquisition cost for fuel. The local oil company revealed that from all indications, fuel acquisition will continue on an upward path.

According to Guyoil, the retail price per litre of gasoline in the capital city will move from $170 to $180, while the price for kerosene increased by $10 per litre and will now retail at $105. Diesel users will be paying $152, up from $150 and Berbice fuel users will pay $2 more per litre more than users in Georgetown on each commodity.

“The Guyana Oil Company Ltd (Guyoil) has always sought to make petroleum products available to the Guyanese population at prices better than the competition, which has once again been demonstrated in our delayed price review,” a Company’s release stated. Guyoil added that it will continue to inform the public of any actions on relative price movements.
However, the increased price movements did not sit well with many taxi and minibus operators. On Saturday, a number of drivers expressed their dissatisfaction with the increased fuel prices, with many pointing to rising maintenance costs, especially with the recent ban on used tyres, adding that it will cause much strain.
“How come gas all over de world drop and gas raise here [but] if it raise we can’t do anything but we gone feel the squeeze,” a taxi driver, Eon (only name given) noted.
“Customers will got to feel de squeeze if everything raise. Cause transportation price gon raise too,” the taxi driver further opined.
This fear was echoed by commuters, many of whom told Guyana Times that they are finding it hard to make ends meet with the current economic situation.
Speaking with this newspaper, Ferris Day, a pensioner, said as someone who utilises the public transportation system, he is worried over possible increases.
Donelle Pillu, a single parent of Sophia, Greater Georgetown, explained that she is worried that with the increased gas prices, she will have a larger burden to send her children to school if public transportation prices rise also.
A sales girl, Amanda Ramkission, told this newspaper that subsidies should be implemented to cushion the trickledown effect of such an increase.
It was just over four months ago that Finance Minister Winston Jordan announced Government’s decision to slash fuel prices after mounting calls came from the Private Sector Commission (PSC) and main Opposition, People’s Progressive Party/C (PPP/C) for there to be a reduction considering that the world market price for the commodity was low.
In February, the price of gasoline at Guyoil service stations moved from $190 to $170 per gallon, diesel dropped from $161 to $150, and kerosene had decreased from $120 to $90 per gallon.