The President of the National Association of Gasoline Retailers (Anadegas), Juan Matos, He assured this Tuesday that the fact that Haitians buy fuel in the Dominican Republic due to the crisis and shortage in the neighboring country, does not mean that this would affect demand in the Dominican nation.
“The quantity that is being sold is not enough to make the country run out of supplies. The refinery is doing a very good job with the supply issue, “said Matos about the situation of Haitian citizens, who, not getting fuel in their country, come to the Dominican Republic to acquire petroleum derivatives and then resell them at high prices or they make use of it.
According to Matos, approximately 5,000 extra gallons have been increased to what is normally sold due to the purchase by Haitians.
“That is even a humanitarian issue because if we turn off the tap we could even cause an avalanche towards the country (…) It is convenient that little by little we give it the service because if it cannot bring us a mess at the border. The only thing that we try to be something organized, and of course, that our stations do not run out of supply, “said Matos.
The Anadegas representative pointed out that this issue is in control of the fuel stations and that they work based on inventories, so if they see that it gets out of control, it will be regulated together with the authorities.
He added that the Haitian villages that are close to the border are the ones that are supplying themselves. “It is not the whole of Haiti. I don’t think it will get out of control, but if it happens, we are there for that, “said Matos.
The border provinces are agricultural, so Anadegas clarified that they sell fuel in jugs every day for agriculture, not just for Haiti.
He added that what you have to have is vigilance and be in constant coordination with the authorities, “but identifying who is going to take the fuel to that country is almost impossible.”
Matos recalled that for reasons of humanity, these people cannot be allowed to reach a point of deprivation and despair.
“We cannot close the stations because we take away the service from the Dominicans and we must take into account that not all the fuel sold in jugs is to the Haitians,” he argued.
Matos specified that Anadegas has guaranteed the supply of the border line stations and is in coordination with the Specialized Corps for Land Border Security (CESFRONT) for any moment in which a decision has to be made.
“It’s a short time”
The Vice Minister of Internal Trade of the Ministry of Industry, Commerce and MSMEs (MICM), Ramón Pérez Fermín, reported that what has been done through the Specialized Fuel Control Corps (CECCOM) is to begin to be proactive and that this situation is handled with reasonable levels of normality. “That is why it has been seen that the CECCOM has had a presence at the stations. In the end, we do not have news that there is nothing to be alarmed about, much less, but the State has the obligation to act before there are uncomfortable situations and that preventive actions are taken to see, no more than there ”, he clarified Pérez Fermín.
He stated that it is a very short time, since it was this Monday that an influx began to be seen a little more intense than normal, so it would have to spend a little more time to be able to measure the impact.
“We still don’t know if this situation is so unusual. To be able to verify this increase, it is necessary to wait. We have no news that there is something abnormal, it may be a little higher, but it is not that there is a pilgrimage or a situation out of control. I do not know tomorrow, but until now what there is is an increase in the influx of people buying fuel. Nothing that leads us to a scenario of lack of control, until today, “said the vice minister of the MICM.
Pérez Fermín added that what is happening in Haiti is the authorities of that nation who have to respond to it, highlighting that the information that is handled in the MICM is the same that the press has released.
TheDominican Oil Refinery (Refidomsa) responded to this medium that it is a company ofimport andoil refining and that it only sells to distributors, who are responsible for ensuring that fuels reach consumers and fuel stations.
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