By Olimatou Coker
Members of Oil Marketing Companies (OMCs) have yesterday urged government to remedy the situation of fuel prices by tomorrow, Friday .
Momodou Hydara, manager of Jah Multi Industries Gambia LTD, made these remarks at a press conference on challenges in petroleum price structure held at GCCI head office in Bijilo.
“We hope that the government will take immediate and necessary steps to remedy the situation by Friday to ensure continuity and stability in the petroleum sector and the economy,” he said.
“We are unable to continue selling fuel to the Gambian public at the current prices set by the Ministry of Finance and Economic Affairs and Ministry of Petroleum and Energy,” he said, and called on the said authorities to review the current prices in consultation with the OMCs to avoid further disruption to the economy which is already in a difficult situation.
He added that it is important the public is informed that pricing of fuel products in The Gambia is 100% regulated by the government. “That means our purchase price, selling price and determinations of margins are all set by the government and OMCs must comply.
The new prices for August were set by MoFEA and MoPE without consultations with the OMCs and this current pricing means that we will not be able to continue importing and selling fuel to the public as it cannot cover the costs of importation of fuel and other costs not provided for by the government pricing,” he said.
Hydara revealed that the OMCs have supported the government immensely since October of last year to help curb the rising prices of fuel by agreeing to reduce profits margins per liter. He added that they also engaged MoFEA in May to inform them that OMCs experienced significant losses due to the May fuel prices set by the government.
