Caribbean360: No fuel shortage, T&T residents told

No fuel shortage, T&T residents told
================================================================================
Chris Hoyos on 23/05/2011 17:38:00
 
PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad, Monday May 23, 2011 – As motorists rush to fill up
their tanks after workers at the state-owned National Petroleum Marketing
Company (NP) went on strike, Energy Affairs Minister Carolyn Seepersad-Bachan,
has been seeking to assure there is no fuel shortage in the twin-island
republic.
And she has urged consumers not to engage in panic buying.
Some gas stations reportedly ran out gasoline and diesel over the weekend, after
the Oilfields’ Workers Trade Union (OWTU), which represents the workers, on
Friday urged people to stock up on fuel because of the strike action.
But in a statement issued over the weekend,  Seepersad-Bachan said there was no
need for that as NP was still continuing its distribution as normal.
“Let me assure citizens of Trinidad and Tobago that there is no shortage of
fuel being supplied to the nation’s service stations,” she said.
“The question of a need to panic-buy simply does not arise.  The management
team at NP is out in full force doing what needs to be done to ensure
delivery.”
The Energy Minister said that NP had activated its contingency plan to ensure
full operations would be maintained.
Click here to receive free news bulletins via email from Caribbean360. (View
sample)