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Domestic gas and consumers
Will there be a shortage of gas in the near future? Are the sources of gas getting exhausted or is a shortage being provoked by importers or government policy? The consumers of this country, already labouring under a bruising cost-of-living burden, are likely to add a gas price increase to their long litany of woes, unless government intervention keeps the price at a bearable level.
Industry and Commerce Minister, Rajesh Jeetah, was quoted as looking at several options to offset a possible gas price hike by importing companies. Many consumers thought that this course of action by the minister is simply an excuse to justify the recent “two times” price increases on gas within a short time. On the other hand, the private sector believes that this government options to offset such a possible gas price hike to be the correct course in view of the State’s duties towards the customers.
Obliged to cushion the poor</B>
The government should seriously explore every possibility of ensuring gas at an affordable price. To begin with, it just would not do for the government and the LPG importing firms to be at daggers drawn over this issue, if this is the case. There is a possibility of arriving at a solution, which would be fair to all the relevant parties if they put their heads together in an earnest effort at reaching an amicable solution.
Therefore, we urge the government and the companies concerned to get down to crisis-defusing talks, for win-win solutions, which are within the realms of the possible in these issues. There are lessons in such problems for the Mauritian polity. Cooking gas prices cannot be dismissed by the government or other relevant quarters as marginal issues, which do not impinge on the affairs of the State.
Suffice it to mention that a rise in the price of LPG could have the effect of sky rocketing the prices of a range of other consumer items—such as eatables - which have a direct and destabilizing bearing on the cost of living. For instance, almost all eating-houses are highly dependent on gas.
Considering all this, the time is ripe for a greater proactive involvement of the government and its institutions in guiding the affairs of the consuming public. This proposition should not be misconstrued as meaning that we should revert to a heavily state-controlled economy. Far from it.
The government should never be allowed to have throttling control over the country’s productive forces. On the contrary, the ideal paradigm is a balanced economy. However, given the fact that a large segment of our population is poor, the government is obliged to cushion them from rising living costs.
The problem with Mauritius in this context is that for far too long the country has permitted market forces to make important economic decisions and gas prices are a case in point. We do not see how economic justice could be rendered to the poor of the land if market forces are always allowed to have the final say.
Concerning the crucial importance of gas prices in the cost-of-living problem, the government should, ideally, convert itself into a gas importer and distributor. Failing which the government should negotiate deals with LPG importers to ensure fair consumer prices.
<B>Ahmad MACKY</B>
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