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Ogle Airport Inc. again refuses entry to ASL tanker
– standoff ends after govt. intervention
By Leonard Gildarie
In an unfolding saga, authorities of Ogle Airport Incorporated (OAI) and local charter company, Air Services Limited (ASL) clashed again yesterday, after management of the airport refused to allow an ASL fuel tanker to enter the compound.
And for the second time in as many weeks, Transportation Minister Robeson Benn intervened, asking for the tanker to be allowed to enter.
This latest incident comes two weeks after the airport stopped another ASL fuel tanker from entering. On that August 11 evening, a senior official of ASL, used the tanker to ram open the gate.
OAI is saying that ASL is not authorized to bring fuel into the Ogle compound because of regulations, while ASL says that nothing prevents them from sourcing their own, cheaper fuel for their fleet of planes.
Yesterday, the police were called in to prevent the truck from entering.
Minister Benn confirmed he had received reports of the incident and had asked that the truck be allowed through.
Safety Manager of ASL, Fazel Khan, confirmed yesterday that the truck was allowed through around 17:00 hrs, five hours after the stand-off started.
The Air Services Limited fuel tanker, at left, outside the Ogle Airport yesterday.
According to OAI spokesperson, Kit Nascimento, the airport management is maintaining its stance that ASL is breaching the regulations outlined in the operations manual of the facility which among other things, only allows for an established company there, Caribbean Aviation Management Services Limited (CAMSL), to handle the purchasing and sale of fuel.
On August 15, ASL during a press conference called for a Commission of Inquiry of the Ogle Airport following the gate-ramming incident.
ASL also accused the current management of the Ogle Airport Inc. (OAI) of running a “monopolistic” family affair, and asserted that government and the Private Sector Commission should demand representatives to sit on the board, to ensure a level playing field.
ASL asserted that it can save around $500,000 for every purchase or $15M monthly, if it imports the fuel itself. It accused the airport of getting worried because a company that has links with a board member will lose out on $80M in fuel purchases monthly, and says that no regulations prevent the purchase of fuel elsewhere, at a cheaper cost.
Legal proceedings have commenced to address the present unfair situation under the “Competition and Fair Trading Act”, the company said yesterday.
ASL says it is the largest private aircraft company, operating 19 small planes in Guyana, and higher fuel prices would have resulted in customers feeling the brunt of it.
During the press conference, Annette Arjoon-Martins, made it clear that the company is trying its best to survive, despite being systematically strong-armed in its developmental plans. She also hinted that the gate incident was tantamount to the frustration of being locked out of the home by strangers.
With the recent price increases and the fact that ASL purchased GY$82,825,311.77 in fuel from CAMSL in July 2011, the company said it encouraged CAMSL to sell its fuel to ASL at more realistic prices, but the fuel handling company refused to fix its prices in keeping with existing lower prices nationally, as the same jet fuel is sold at RUBIS Timehri for GY$323 less per gallon.
“Consequently, as nothing prevents a company from handling its own fuel supply, ASL then decided to import its own fuel on a trial basis, at a saving of G$400 per gallon. Using International Safety Organisation (ISO) containers, standard in the industry; the fuel is imported and transported in ASL fuel tankers which are approved by both OAI and CAMSL to handle fuel and have met all the insurance requirements.”
ASL insisted that it does not resell the fuel and has permission from the relevant agencies, including the Ministry of Trade.
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