Businesses voice concern

By PETER ESILA
THE ongoing fuel shortage in the country is concerning and disappointing, considering that the Government has had enough time to address, says Brian Bell Group chairman Ian Clough.
“This issue has been building for some years and plans and actions should have been introduced to limit any impact from Puma no longer supplying fuel,” he said.
He said there had been ample time to “anticipate this serious situation and de-risk the country against what it was experiencing.
He said Brian Bell was fortunate to have a number of partners in the petroleum sector which supported its operations.
“However the impact to our businesses and others is significant,” Clough said.
“This fuel impact, coupled with the recent impacts to businesses as a result of the serious law and order issues being experienced, is having a significant effect on the economy.
“Consumer confidence is low, costs to business are skyrocketing, and while we do all we can to mitigate these costs being passed onto the customer, inevitably this puts added pressure on the cost of living.
“The impact of this fuel crisis extends across many areas that will have a serious impact to business, individuals and the economy with air travel being only one area.
“Transport of goods around the country, transport of people, business activities, shipping, fueling generators to keep power going given the ongoing issues and many more are all going to cause serious impacts to PNG if not addressed quickly.”
Meanwhile, City Pharmacy Ltd founder Sir Mahesh Patel shared similar views on the fuel crisis.
“I have been wanting to visit our branches and have been hesitant due to so many flight disruptions,” he said.
“We are concerned and frustrated about not only the aviation fuel, but fuel as a whole. Last week, we started planning, car-pooling, spare storage, delivery vehicles. This is a totally unnecessary distraction from our day-to-day business.”