Open Letter to Prime Minister, Rt. Honourable Gaston Browne

Dear Prime Minister,

We the Service Station Operators have decided to write to you in this manner because:

1. we do not get responses to our letters taken to your office, neither in March nor our more recent one dated and taken on September 15th; and

1. given the urgency, we need the public to get a frank understanding of the situation at hand.

We have been holding the strain for over 25 years now and have been repeatedly told that it is not good timing. It wasn’t a good time after Hurricane Luis. It wasn’t good timing when we were getting the first desalination plants, nor when we were doing the Deep Water Harbour; it also wasn’t a good time after Hurricane Irma. Yet again, in 2026, we are being told that our request is reasonable but it is bad timing. When is a good time for fairness?

Sir, it is your government’s responsibility to make fair decisions always, not just in fair weather conditions which are few and far between as challenges will always come. The Government of Antigua and Barbuda cannot keep kicking this bucket further and further down the road, waiting on some ideal time which clearly does not exist.

We also remind you that by letter of 28th March, 2003 the Ministry of Finance communicated to the Operators that Cabinet had agreed and decided to grant the fuel station dealers a floating margin, and WIOC was notified by copy of the letter. At the time of this correspondence, you were the Minister of Price Control and Consumer Affairs.We are not asking for anything new. We are asking that what was agreed, be implemented.

It is challenging to retain belief that your administration is dealing with us in utmost good faith, as we have had no communication since our September 1st meeting with you. As Minister of Finance, you are fully aware that with each price increase at the pump, the gas stations get even less as not only do they sell at the higher price set, but they must first purchase the fuel from WIOC at a higher wholesale price, all while only getting $1.08 cents on the gallon for gasoline and $.95 for diesel.

If a shopkeeper usually buys a case of 12 tins of milk for $36 and sells each can for $4, that is a gross margin of $1.00. If the case price goes up to $40 but the shop can still only keep $1 on each tin, the shopkeeper is getting less money per case of milk.

When we wrote you in March, we explained that the then 8% gross margin was low, and you have since publicly accepted that this margin is indeed narrow and that our request for an increase is reasonable. You are also not the first to admit this. In an Aide Memoire over two decades ago, the Ministry concluded that “no business can operate at profit margins as low as outlined”, and the Ministry also urged the government to settle this matter “fairly and expeditiously”. This all we ask. Fairness and swift action to resolve.

Ultimately, we the service station operators are doing our best to preserve livelihoods. You said that the burden must be shared, but since end of August 2026, we keep getting blindsided by higher prices which renders us operators in a worse financial position, with increased daily risks to our safety. It is hard to imagine that we came to you in March of this year, pleading for an increase on the paltry 8% and since then, even without notice, we have been reduced to 7% and now currently stand at 6.38%. This is why the floating margin which was already agreed by Cabinet is imperative. Price controlled items in supermarkets get 15% gross markup as this is set as the reasonable minimum. We cannot operate on 6%; that is grossly unfair and places a disproportionate share of the burden on us.

If your administration is not on board with our quest to save jobs and you want the service station industry to change to self-service, please advise us and the public soonest, rather than letting it be death by a thousand torturous cuts. If you, sir, as Minster of Finance, continue to worsen our margin, we will be unable to continue operations as is. This is reality.

37 days after our meeting with you, we simply ask that the promised review committee be immediately established and complete its work within the agreed 90 day timeframe.

We further ask that you treat this matter with the respect it deserves. Stop threatening the gas stations on Facebook or otherwise, and stop allowing misinformation.At no time have the gas stations ever had a 12% margin.

We deeply regret the inconvenience caused to the public and we thank them for their understanding and patience during this challenging time.

Respectfully,

Service Station Operators