by Rick Lowe
For the past few years Mr. Leslie Miller, Minister of Agriculture and former Minister of Trade and Industry spent an inordinate amount of time verbally abusing the gas station owners and the oil companies as a result of escalating gas prices.
I call the verbal attacks The Miller Syndrome!
The Nassau Institute pointed out back in 2004 how Mr. Miller was demonising local gas dealers and the oil companies in this piece titled Oil companies and their dealers are being demonised.
The article states:
Over the past few months there has been a consistent drumbeat from the Minister of Trade and Industry demonising the oil companies and their dealers by suggesting that their profit margins are too high and this is detrimental to Bahamian consumers.
Who is gouging whom?
Of course no mention is made of reducing the taxes applied to a gallon of gasoline. An oil company executive has confirmed that government taxes are $1.06 per gallon plus 7% Stamp Tax. The point being made by the Minister of Trade is the suppliers and dealers are gouging consumers with their respective $0.33 and $0.44 per gallon mark up.
Click here and here to find more articles on this subject.
This Nassau Guardian Business story by Vernon Clement Jones titled Gas retailers fuming mad says in part:
"Minister (Lesile) Miller continues to make inaccurate and unfair statements about us," said Byran Woodside, newly elected president of the Bahamas Petroleum Retailers Association. "The portfolio is no longer his yet he continues to spread inaccurate statements about our profit margins."
The "Miller Syndrome" recently reared its ugly head in the debate in Parliament over the National Health Insurance Act.
This blogger is glad to read the gas station owners have had enough and are challenging the veracity of the derogatory comments.
Let's hope that other groups will begin to defend their honour against the "Miller Syndrome" among our country's so-called leaders.
