Dear Editor:
The decision to not
approve margin increases for petroleum retailers is a prudent and wise
one on the part of the prime minister and government of The Bahamas.
I have been in the business for three years working closely with one
Mr. Godfrey Clark - dealer. We were operating three Shell service stations:
Thompson Boulevard, East Bay Street, and Robinson and Blue Hill Roads.
They were among the lowest volume stations on the Island; yet we were
able to survive with profits for the stated period.
The East Bay location was the slowest of the lot, but the shop was able
to keep that station afloat.
There are petroleum dealers in New Providence who are making big profits,
because they have the volume, and their shops are very profitable. If
a dealer is pumping 100,000 gallons of gasoline a month at forty-four
cents ($ 0.44) profit a gallon; he makes $44,000.00 dollars – exclusive
of the shop earnings.
There are a significant number of service stations on the island that
have volume of 100,000 gallons of gasoline a month, and the respective
dealers of them are taking home more than $10,000.00 profit monthly.
How much more money is it that they want to take home?
The following stations in New Providence among others are doing more
than 100,000 gallons of gasoline a month in my opinion: Shell Saunders
Beach, Shell Oakes Field, Shell Harold Road, Texaco West Bay, Esso Wulff
and Village Roads, Texaco Blue Hill Road and Independence Highway, Texaco
Faith Avenue and Fire Trail Road, and all of the On The Run Stations,
and Heastie Esso Blue Hill.
I have deliberately left out the diesel and shop sales.
The petroleum dealers in New Providence have no legitimate case for
fuel price increase; in fact – they are among the highest paid entrepreneurs
in the country.
The island could be saturated with service stations - and that might
be the reason why some dealers are not making money; and so they are
crying for price increases. That’s not a consumer or political problem;
thus - the people should not suffer higher fuel prices for this situation,
nor should the government give in to blackmail on the part of petroleum
dealers.
Yours etc
Dennis A. Dames
