Wade: Govt overcharging for gasoline

Opposition senator Wade Mark
Opposition senator Wade Mark

WADE Mark, Opposition Senator, accused the Government of illegally overcharging drivers for gasoline bought at the pump above a figure suggested by current world oil-prices, but Minister of Public Utilities Robert Le Hunte retorted that “super” gasoline in TT is the third cheapest in the hemisphere.

In yesterday’s Senate debate on a bill to vary the Budget, Mark said a drop in the world oil-price had not been matched by a drop at the pump in TT.

He alleged drivers are now charged $4.97 per litre, but really should pay only $3.90.

Mark asked the Government to say if they were in breach of the Petroleum Production Subsidy and Levy Act by the prices charged to citizens for super gas and premium?

He said while Energy Minister Franking Khan may boast of saving $100 million in his budget allocation, this left citizens paying more at the pump as it could have subsidised the pump price.

Mark said Finance Minister Colm Imbert last budget had said an oil-price of US$73 per barrel should render a non-subsidised price of $5.47 per litre (super) and $4.96 (diesel), but prices now were not in line with these figures.

“A mathematical relationship would tell you that if oil prices are US$52 per barrel, the price of super gasoline at the pump should be $3.90 per litre, and the price of diesel should be $3.53,” Mark said. “Is that not a new form of taxation the Government has imposed on the country?”

Mark asked the long-term cost to citizens of $62 million in savings at the Water and Sewerage Authority (WASA).

He lamented that half the country’s water supply leaks out through old pipes that the Government has failed to repair. Le Hunte firstly retorted to Mark over the oil-price. “We are 23rd lowest country in world for gas price. Lowest in Caribbean and third lowest in hemisphere.”

Secondly, on WASA, Le Hunte pledged the Government’s “astute management and prudence.” He said he wished he had the resources of the former regime but knows his challenges and the resources he has. “I have to continue to try to do more with less. I don’t think I should stand and apologize for trying to make utilities like WASA more efficient.” His costs are 50 per cent less than those of the past government, he said. “As the economy turns around we’ll have more money to build more wells and lay more pipes.”Vowing to avoid dubious $1 billion deals ending in the production of no water, he said, “That is the legacy of the past regime.”

He vowed to help the Treasury and the poor by saving every dime he could be cutting corruption and inefficiency. “That is what management is all about. “Management is not about spend, spend, spend! Waste, waste, waste! Gimme, gimme, gimme! Take, take, take!”

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