Rubis fuel warns of job losses in Dominica

The Barbados-based Rubis West Indies Restricted is threatening to sever ties with its workers in Dominica after claiming it’s being pressured to subsidize the native marketplace for petroleum merchandise.

“Following our suspension of gross sales on September 15, if this isn’t resolved in a well timed and significant method we will likely be severing ties with the workers come September 30,” stated nation supervisor, Nicholson Dodds.

Talking on the state-owned DBC radio, Dodds, stated Rubis, which has operations all through the Jap Caribbean in addition to Guyana, stated “we’re being pressured to subsidize the market” based mostly on the pricing system from the Ministry of Commerce.

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“What I imply by that if you import a gallon of product, assuming that the landed price right here is ten {dollars}, the value build-up begins at let’s say 9 {dollars}. In order that for each gallon we’re promoting, even earlier than the product will get to the market we’re shedding cash.

“Now we have made repeated approaches to authorities, and authorities is sort of conscious of it. In 2021, the federal government made some concessions to us, they usually promised they may get again to the desk within the first quarter of 2022 got here and we made a number of makes an attempt to satisfy with the federal government, we wrote to the federal government, and we’re nonetheless ready.”

Dodds stated Rubis “can not wait indefinitely, the losses proceed, we are able to now not maintain them.”

He informed radio listeners that if a product is purchased and the landed price into Dominica is EC$10 (One EC greenback=US$0.37 cents) and “it’s a must to promote it lower than the landed price, you make losses even earlier than the product get on the market into the market.

“We’re being pressured to subsidize it. Petroleum product is a regulated product. We don’t repair the value, the ministry does. It’s not a query that we’re shedding a greenback and we are able to say let’s improve it by a greenback, it doesn’t work like that.

“For each importation that we usher in we should convey the bill to the Ministry of Commerce, so the ministry is sort of conscious of what we’re paying for it, and based mostly on that they do the value build-up,” he added.

The federal government has not but responded to his assertion.

Based on its web site, Rubis West Indies Restricted employs greater than 200 folks throughout the Caribbean.

CMC/