Insecurity at Our Gas Stations
Frequent scarcity, concealment and a thriving black market characterize our gas crisis. Contributing to the crisis is the problem of insecurity. Our gas storage structures are located in the heart of some of the most turbulent areas. As a result, insecurity affects our access to gas and consequently nearly every aspect of daily life.
The pumps are dry in part due to the location of storage facilities.
Haiti can only store one million barrels of petroleum products while the country consumes 20,000 barrels each day (1 barrel equals 42 gallons). We need more storage in order to met the demand.
Unfortunately, successive governments have failed to make good use of the Petrocaribe windfall. Haiti entered into a deal with the Venezuelan government to purchase petroleum products at advantageous prices in order to fund the development of storage facilities. No new facilities have materialized. Due to its limited storage capacity, Haiti must replenish itself with petroleum products every 22 days.
The only two existing terminals: Varreux (Cité Soleil) and Thor (Carrefour), are located in areas with high risk for instability, banditry, and weak dissuasive forces. Furthermore, these two terminals are found only in the West Department.
Dr. René Jean Jumeau, a former Minister Delegate to the Prime Minister in charge of the energy issue, believes that a strategic stock should be built up and used only in emergencies. Furthermore, we should see the creation of ports and strategic reserves and a lighter mechanism for recovering debts owed to private companies by the government.
Concerned at the time about the country's limited storage capacity of a million barrels, the president of the Haitian Institute of Energy (IHE) attempted to bring a Trinidadian player into the market, British Petroleum, which offered to create a significant strategic storage capacity. That story has yet to be written.
Today, it is common to see queues that can stretch for a kilometer and wait times up to six hours before a gas station attendant serves you.
This exercise in patience sadly does not guarantee that the valuable product will be found. Street vendors hawking yellow gallons full of who-knows-what often win the competition for customers who lack the time or patience for the formal market.
Indeed, the scarcity that the executive and judicial authorities denounce may even be intentional for the advantage of a black market where a gallon sells for up to 200% more than its official price. Arrests rarely stop street gallon vendors, and the bigwigs who profit the most from these illegal black market transactions remain untouchable.
Cliff Coulanges
