NASSAU, Bahamas – Prime Minister Philip “Brave” Davis believes the key to relief for Bahamians concerning escalating gas prices and higher energy costs is wrapped up in the removal of sanctions on Venezuela, The Tribune reported on Tuesday, June 28, in an article written by Khrisna Russell.
“Once the valve is released for Venezuela to provide fuel we will see a very significant downward trend on the cost of fuel,” Mr Davis said yesterday.
In comments to reporters, the Prime Minister said small island developing states like The Bahamas have agitated at both the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) in Rwanda and at the Summit of the Americas in Los Angeles to lift the sanctions on Venezuela, noting that more factors than the Russian invasion of Ukraine bolstered increased gasoline costs. He said the sanctions on Venezuela played a vital role in rising cost of fuel for The Bahamas.
Mr Davis was asked yesterday to speak to the gripping cost of fuel and the government’s position on higher electricity bills that is expected to come through a fuel surcharge adjustment. He spoke fresh from Rwanda in the VIP Lounge at the Lynden Pindling International Airport, where he fielded questions from reporters about national issues.
“As you would have heard me earlier speak about the energy crisis and what we’re doing as Small Island Developing States at these conferences is to have the United States and the industrialised world to remove sanctions in particular for Venezuela, which is now working, that we hope would be a step in relieving the cost of fuel to Bahamians,” Mr Davis said.
“In respect to our meetings with the petroleum dealers we did make some movements during the budget exercise particularly to assist Family Island dealers and we are still working out what else we can do recognising that most of the cost related to fuel is not within our control.
“What is in our control and which I have been doing is letting our voice be heard about some of the initiatives and policies in some of the industrialised world that is causing the increase in oil. Quite apart from the invasion of Ukraine there are also other issues like the sanctions on Venezuela that impacted the cost of fuel particularly for us.
“So, if those sanctions are lifted it helps and so we have been agitating. We have had two major meetings in respect to that – one at the Summit of the Americas in Los Angeles a couple weeks ago and one at CHOGM now where Canada and the UK were present in there where we made our voices known.
“Both Prime Minister Boris Johnson and Prime Minister Justin (Trudeau) left our meeting to go to the G7 and they are now there and they are charged to carry our voices with them and hopefully we should see some relief on that…” See complete article in The Tribune at http://www.tribune242.com/news/2022/jun/28/embargo-removal-could-be-solution-pm-sees-opening-/
