Scarcity is forcing the government to institute a national plan to reduce fuel consumption, starting with vehicles that belong to the government itself. In a parallel effort, 100 troops were added to the frontier guards in an effort to stop sales of fuel from the Dominican Republic to Haiti. Stories in every major paper today, including headlines in El Caribe, report that the airlines serving the country are being forced to ration their fuel purchases here. Some airlines are filling up their planes adequately before arriving in the DR, and others are making short trips to Miami or Puerto Rico to refuel before making their scheduled flights to Newark or JFK. The Dominican Republic sources its fuel mainly from Venezuela, where a major political conflict has paralyzed petroleum dispatches over the past month.
Today?s El Caribe editorial is an eloquent call for appropriate steps to be taken, not only by the government, but also by the people, in the face of a very possible fuel shortage in the not too distant future. Carpooling, reduced usage and fuel savings at the domestic level are recommended by the editorialist.
