–chairman
Authorities in Region One (Barima/Waini) are currently purchasing fuel from licensed fuel distributors within the region.
This is according to Regional Chairman Fermin Singh who, in responding to a letter penned by PNCR-1G MP Desmond Fernandes headlined ’No legal source of fuel at the moment in North West’, which appeared in the Jan 29, 2010 edition of this newspaper, stated that he has no knowledge of the nature of the dealers’ business.
Singh stated that since the closure of a fuel supply facility at Morawhanna, also in the Mabaruma Sub-Region, which was operated by GuyOil, the authorities in the region have been purchasing fuel from various dealers. He said the authorities “did not get a signal of whether GuyOil would continue to supply the region with fuel” but in August last year the fuel company closed the facility and according to the regional chairman, an agreement was made with a businessman, whom he named as Garraway to supply fuel to the region. He said that the arrangement fell through after two months.
When asked why GuyOil decided to close the facility, Singh said that he could not say offhand but noted that he was informed that there was competition where supply of fuel was concerned with other dealers selling the commodity at a cheaper rate.
Fernandes stated in the letter that a MOU was signed with a Trinidadian company which was supposed to take the place of the former supplier and supply fuel to the region.
He said the company operated for a few weeks and after the entity’s operations closed a scarcity arose and fuel prices escalated. He said that to keep the engines rolling, including those of farmers, miners etc, the fuel traders have been smuggling larger amounts of fuel from neighbouring Venezuela so that work and activities could continue.
Fernandes recommended that the regional authorities in the North West investigate the matter with a view to regularizing the ‘illegal’ trade so that if possible fuel in the region could be sourced legally.
Waterfront
Meanwhile, the Transport and Hydraulics Ministry is currently assessing sections of the waterfront at Kumaka to determine what type of work can be carried out to counter the eroding landscape there. Singh told Stabroek News that a plot of land has been allocated for persons to relocate from the affected area. He said that while most persons living close to the affected area have been “squatting there”, it is based on humanitarian grounds that the region has allocated land for them to relocate. He said that persons living at Kumaka related that shortly after the country experienced a tremor about three years ago they observed cracks on the ground and the foreshore began to erode.
Business persons have been complaining about the authorities’ response to the issue, since according to them, the area is the main business hub of the sub-region.
The authorities have stated in response that the affected residents have been told to relocate from the area but most have been reluctant to do so.
