Activist Troy Garvey hit out at the decision by Freeport Oil Company Ltd. (FOCOL) to sell only the higher-priced Premium fuel, claiming the move victimizes ordinary customers.
He called on FOCOL to lower the price of Premium until the problem of “bad gas” on Grand Bahama is solved once and for all.
Garvey was joined by fellow activists Joseph Darville, Jah Shiloh and Etienne Farquharson.
Together, they criticized the Government for its “silence” amid the controversy and said that should the government fail to address the issue soon, they will hold a press conference in front of Parliament when the House of Assembly resumes on Wednesday.
Garvey specified that the fuel fiasco is not a political matter and that the public should “free themselves” from this mentality.
“We need to put PLP, FNM, and DNA aside and be more patriotic Bahamians to hold people accountable for (how) they are treating people,” Garvey said.
“We need to free ourselves. We’ve got to get out of this mental slavery. If we continue to carry on with how we’re carrying on … we will always face this same troubling effect.”
Reports of vehicle damage related to “contaminated” gas date back to late May, early June.
Since that time, repair shops have fixed more than 2,000 vehicles for issues related to the defective gas.
Now, nearly three months later, some motorists are still without fully functioning cars and/or compensation for their trouble.
Darville said that had this incident occurred elsewhere, namely Nassau or in the United States, the situation would not be allowed to persist.
“Had this situation occurred in Fort Lauderdale, or Miami, Fl., the moment that it was discovered that one vehicle was damaged by contaminated fuel, those companies would have been ordered to discontinue to sell that gasoline,” he said.
