Limited access to petrol frustrates Barbudans

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Residents on the sister island have said they are “fed up” with the limited availability of fuel for their vehicles on the weekend.
On Saturday afternoon, the lone petrol station on Barbuda, G&B Service Station, which is owned and operated by former Minister of Barbuda Affairs, Trevor Walker, was closed.
However, residents voiced their frustration on Sunday after the gas station was only open from 9:30 am to noon.
They speculated that the weekly norm — the gas station being closed on Sundays — would extend well into the Caribana holiday weekend and therefore would not reopen until Tuesday. With no other option to refuel, they said they faced the daunting prospect of empty tanks for the rest of Caribana.
When OBSERVER media spoke with some residents to get their reaction, one man said: “My view is that it’s the Caribana season so it should be open. People are going to the beach and what not. It is normally closed on Sunday, not for religious reasons but I believe it should be open.”
Another man, who was buying food from a vendor not too far down the road, said that while he wasn’t a driver, he knows the current situation facing those who do. He said that it was an inconvenience for many of his acquaintances.
“Me no have no vehicle you know, but me have a problem with that. Every day gas station lock up 5 o’clock so even self you done work at 4 o’clock and you need some gas to carry you the next morning, by the time you reach, the gas station lock up.”
He believes that fishermen, especially, should have the luxury of getting gas at regular hours.
“[Open] until 10 o’clock in the night so [people are] not on this hustle to catch gas … even the seamen come in from sea late they have to hustle to catch gas and if they don’t they have to wait until the next morning.”
 
(More in today’s Daily Observer)

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