MSJ plans gas march for April 22

POLITICAL leader of the Movement for Social Justice (MSJ) David Abdulah is calling on Government to withdraw its decision to raise the price of fuel.

At a meeting on Sunday in the car park of Paria Fuel Trading Co Ltd, in Pointe-a-Pierre, Abdulah described the justifications by Finance Minister Colm Imbert, for raising fuel prices, as rubbish.

He called on the public to take a stand against the increase in fuel prices, the increase in the cost of living and the closure of Petrotrin in a march the MSJ is planning for April 22 in Port of Spain.

“This is utter rubbish, foolishness! The real issue is how is the burden adjustment being shared between the rich and the poor, between the haves on one hand and the have-nots, on the other.

“We cannot sit down and do nothing. Doing nothing is not a choice. To do nothing means you are accepting your condition of suffering and of poverty and of misery. We have to now take a stand and do something.”

On Friday, Imbert detailed the reasons for the increase in fuel prices, including the fallout from the covid19 pandemic and disruptions in the supply of oil arising from Russia's invasion of Ukraine and associated international sanctions against the former.

Abdulah said the impact on the working class and the poor would be horrendous, as most are working on 2011 or 2013 salaries in 2022 inflationary times.

“The dollar they were earning in 2013 is worth less than 75 cents today. The business chambers and the Supermarket Association have already said the cost of living is going to go up and the cost of food is going to be increased.”

The operational impact on fishermen, he pointed out, has doubled in the last three years because of the closure of the Petrotrin refinery which forced them to switch from regular fuel to super fuel.

He said the increase in the price of fuel was akin to Imbert and the Government putting a knee on the necks of the people of the country.

Abdulah said that the people who really ought to shoulder the burden of adjustment are the wealthy. He said companies whose profits went up in recent times including commercial banks ought to be taxed more instead of the fuel subsidy being reduced.

Effective April 19 – the day after the Easter holiday weekend – the price of premium gasoline and super gasoline will raised by a dollar to $6.75 and $5.97, respectively. The price of diesel will be adjusted by 50 cents to $3.91 per litre. The price of kerosene will be adjusted from $1.50 to $3.50 per litre.

The price of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) remains fixed at $21 for a 20lb cylinder of cooking gas for domestic customers. This is the fourth fuel price adjustment implemented since the PNM returned to office in September 2015.