Statement on the role of the Government in the escalating cost of Gasoline
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| Eugene Hamilton -Deputy Political Leader -PEOPLE'S ACTION MOEVEMENT |
Fellow Citizens and residents, at this time every consumer is feeling the financial constraints that have arisen as a result of the ever increasing cost of fuel. Most people are aware of the fluctuating price of oil on the world market and understand that this is an exogenous circumstance that is beyond local control.
However, what too many of us do not realize is that this state of affairs, contrary to what is being said by the Government’s spokesmen, does not render the government incapable of providing relief to already over burdened consumers. The reality of the situation is that Government should be able to provide assistance in the form of subsidies because by its own admission it has taken steps to procure fuel at the cheapest possible prices.
Firstly it has signed on to the Petro – Caribe program which provides concessionary purchasing arrangements to government. This means that the Government is spending less on the fuel it is importing to service the electricity generating capacity of the country and should pass those savings onto the consumer. Secondly the Government is the single largest beneficiary of the sale of gasoline within the Federation.
For every gallon of gas sold at any service station, $4 goes to the Government, about $1 goes to the wholesaler and only about $0.70 goes to the individual retailer. If the Government could reduce its revenue by even $1 in the form of slight decrease in the consumption tax charged to the importers of gasoline then it would be able to pass a significant saving unto consumers to ease the suffering at a time of an extremely high cost of living.
Over recent weeks we the consumers have been forced to pay as much as $18 for one gallon of gas, seen increases in the cost of public transportation and even had to be satisfied with strict rations on a basic commodity like milk. All the while the government has falsely claimed that it is incapable of doing anything at all to alleviate this intense privation. The fact is that it is unconscionable that the poorest among us should be forced to bear the full brunt of the disastrous national debt recklessly incurred by this Government.
It is incumbent upon the Government to provide at least temporary relief rather than to insist on engaging in gimmicks and tricks to fool the electorate. If it is possible to provide a cap of the fuel surcharge now that the price of oil is at its highest when it was not possible to do so when the price was much lower and the people took to the streets to demand relief then it is clear that Government’s hands are not completely tied.
I call on the Government to immediately reduce the consumption tax on gasoline to bring the price of gas at the pump down to reasonable levels. That is the responsibility of Government.
