Police
called out in gas panic-buying
By
Geisha Kowlessar
The Trinidad Guardian
Port
Spain
Petroleumworld.com
09 10 06
Armed
police had to be called out to maintain order at
service stations in Port-of-Spain and along the
East/West Corridor yesterday, as panic-buying of
gasoline again occurred.
Since
Friday afternoon, there were long lines at the various
stations throughout Trinidad as fuel tankers failed
to deliver supplies of gasoline and diesel from
National Petroleum’s (NP) Sea Lots and Pointe-a-Pierre
terminals.
The
panic-buying follows Friday’s move by the
Oilfield Workers Trade Union (OWTU) to inspect all
tankers to ensure their road-worthiness.
It
also comes amid a breakdown of negotiations between
Petrotrin and the representing union over a 32 per
cent wage increase for employees at the state-owned
oil company.
At
NP’s Quik Shoppe, at the corner of Richmond
and Park Streets in Port-of-Spain, the manager,
supervisors and pump attendants were directing traffic
and serving customers yesterday.
“The
situation real chaotic. People not listening. We
understand they want gas, but they are not trying
to maintain any order,” said attendant Salam
Abu.
Abu
said at 8am, the station had not received any gas,
but this did not prevent scores of motorists from
parking their vehicles in and around the station
and waiting for fuel to arrive.
“We
got gas at 8.30, and since then to after lunch it
is just pressure. We had to call out all the supervisors
to help us.
“The
other stations around town don’t have any
gas, so every one is coming here,” Abu explained.
He
said it was private contractors and not NP trucks
which delivered gas supplies to the beleaguered
stations.
Just
after 2pm, two jeep loads of armed uniformed police
pulled into the service station to calm irate motorists.
People
who could not get to the pumps with their cars were
seen walking up to the attendants with empty plastic
containers to be filled.
Just
a stone’s throw away, at another filling station
at Edward and Park Streets, there was calm.
The
occasional motorist would pull in to put air in
a tyre.
“We
have no gas since 11pm,” said Fitan Bynoe,
shift supervisor.
Bynoe
said he was told by NP that trucks would deliver,
he was yet to receive a supply.
“This
is not the first time this has occurred. It is an
ongoing problem.
“NP
needs more trucks. They need to put systems in place,”
a tired-looking Bynoe said.
He
also complained that there needed to be a complete
overhaul of the storage facilities at gas stations.
“We
can hold 3,000 litres of premium and 8,000 of super,
but every day we have to be ordering gas.
“Probably
we need another gas company in Trinidad, and perhaps
then we might not have to deal with this all the
time,” Bynoe said.
Armed
police were also called out to direct traffic at
the gas stations on Southern Main Road in Curepe
and at Piarco Roundabout.
Contacted
yesterday, one official at NP promised “normalcy”
before the end of the day.
“Trucks
are rolling and we have been getting gas out to
stations in the south, north, as well as the east.
“But
because of the heavy traffic on the road, some stations
have not yet received any gas.”
The
Trinidad Guardian
Sunday 10th September, 2006
Copyright
©2006 Trinidad Publishing Company Limited.
All Rights Reserved.
