Most gas stations are considering closing their doors this coming “Thursday at 7:00 p.m. with the curfew ”and will not reopen until Monday“ between 5:00 a.m. at 6:00 a.m. ”, if the governor does not amend the executive order that establishes a curfew and allows these merchants to sell consumer goods, reported the president of the Puerto Rico Gasoline Retailers Association, Rafael Mercado.
Only less than 20% of the Island’s gas stations, which total 1,200 stations, would remain open, if the aforementioned executive order is not amended, which establishes that the gas stations could only sell gasoline on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. The stations that would operate would be those that operate 24 hours a day.
“Structurally, they are not prepared to close. They will have an employee there, even if they operate at a loss, ”said the merchant in an interview with Primera Hora.
This decision to close the gas stations is a voluntary one, as Mercado explained. However, “an immense majority, between 80% to 90% have already reported that the stations will be closing.”
“Basically, we have received many calls that if the order is as it is, they will not open,” he said.
He added that “the experience of last Sunday, April 5 showed us the problems that the order causes for consumers and for retailers. Many consumers who came to the stations to buy items such as milk or bread, in an emergency, were unable to buy them. Many retailers, for their part, were forced to close their stations and expose themselves to vandalism, because it is not possible to operate profitably by selling gasoline only. ”
Mercado reported that he has sent letters to Manuel Laboy, secretary of Economic Development and Commerce, and the economic task force created by Governor Wanda Vázquez to request that the executive order be amended and allow sales of products at gas stations this weekend of Easter and subsequent Sundays.
He clarified that in past Holy Weeks they have had no sales restrictions, as has now been imposed during the coronavirus emergency.
He pointed out that selling products does not cause gas stations to accumulate people as occurs in supermarkets and that it would help them not to operate with losses, as happened last Sunday.
“We take the pressure off the supermarkets, because then the gas stations are well distributed throughout the Island and that consumer who needs one or two products has it close to home, which is less traffic,” said the leader of the gas stations.
Last Sunday the governor reported that she would take more rigorous measures this Easter, specifically from Friday to Sunday, to try to stop the coronavirus contagion curve.
Specifically, he noted that all stores, except pharmacies and gas stations, will be closed between Friday, April 10 and Sunday, April 12. In pharmacies, only recipes would operate and gas stations would limit themselves to selling fuel.
Neither La Fortaleza nor the secretary of Economic Development and Commerce, Manuel Laboy, responded to reaction requests made by Primera Hora to see if the executive order would be amended to allow gas stations to sell other non-fuel products, respectively, during the restrictions imposed this weekend.
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