Lines form at San Fernando NP gas stations

File photo - Vashti Singh
File photo - Vashti Singh

LONG lines began to form at NP service stations on Friday as fuel supplies began to run out at Unipet service stations in San Fernando.

While both Government and Paria Fuel Trading Company advised against panic buying, drivers seemed to be doing just that, with several seen filling containers with fuel.

Petroleum Dealers' Association president Robindranath Naraynsingh told Newsday in a phone interview that the closure of the Unipet stations was causing a lot of traffic at some NP stations.

“Some people are panic-buying.

"If you living in an area with Unipet stations, the NP stations are now being inundated with those motorists as well as their regular customers.”

He wanted the government to intervene to resolve the problem "so we could at least have some form stability in the industry.”

He said Paia and Unipet were still negotiating an end to the impasse, and it had reached a sensitive stage. “But this is stressful, it is really traumatic for some dealers.”

He said the nation was experiencing lost productivity, and drivers for companies now had to wait in line for fuel before attending to their companies' business.

Newsday saw long lines at several NP gas stations including those at Cross Crossing and at Rushworth Street, San Fernando, where the lines snaked into the road.

At the Lady Hailes Unipet service station, drivers had to use only two of the ten pumps which were still in use.

Paria, in a statement on Tuesday, said it had decided to stop supplying Unipet because the company had not renegotiated a supply agreement since April. It also said Unipet had defaulted on payments for September and October.

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"Lines form at San Fernando NP gas stations"

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