Fuel prices on the rise in Puerto Rico
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| Published on Friday, May 9, 2008 |
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By MA Miranda Sierra
Caribbean Net News Puerto Rico Correspondent
Email: miranda@caribbeannetnews.com
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico: As gasoline prices have increased in the US, gas prices in Puerto Rico have also dramatically escalated in the past year.
In Puerto Rico gasoline is sold by the liter rather than by the gallon as it’s sold in the mainland and, within the next few weeks, consumers will find themselves paying a dollar per liter each time they need to pump gas into their car tanks, Puerto Rico Gasoline Retailers Association's Carlos Crespo announced Thursday.
Crespo, acknowledged that the situation is in fact one “that scares consumers” as Puerto Ricans are currently facing hard financial times due the worldwide economic recession, a sales and consumption tax that was implemented in 2006 and rate hikes in electricity and water bills, among other things.
According to Crespo the cost of each gasoline truck carrying some 10,000 gallons has increased to $34,000. To make ends meets, local gasoline retailers have asked gasoline wholesalers to sell them 3,000 gallons less than they used to, each time a delivery is scheduled.
“We have to work with gasoline wholesale companies, which many times don’t want to sell less than 10,000 gallons. And many gasoline stations, even though they're running, are not selling gas because they don’t have the $34,000 to purchase it,” Crespo said.
Many gasoline stations have been forced to sell only items found in convenience stores such as water, milk, cigarettes, among other things, due to the elevated gasoline prices.
Crespo said that when gasoline retailers purchase 3,000 gallons less from wholesalers, they can save up to $10,000.
He added that, at the same time, consumers are pumping less gas into their tanks, in an attempt to save some money in these financially strapped times.
Meanwhile, Puerto Rico Transportation and Public Works Secretary Carlos González Miranda said that, due to the high costs of gasoline, more and more Puerto Ricans living in the metropolitan area are using the Urban Train.
The Urban Train began operations in June 2005.
According to González Miranda the Urban Train’s consumer use broke its record as a total of 821,623 people used the train as their means of transportation rather than using their cars during the first four months of this year.
González Miranda said the participation hike amounted in a 24 percent increase compared to the number of passengers using the train a year ago. By April 2007 some 623,345 people used the train while by April 2006 some 618,976 passengers used the train.
“If the trend continues we will end this year with a participation of over 8,500,000 which is the same as an 8 percent increase,” González Miranda said in a written statement. |
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