JGRA supports local bid for purchase of Petcom

The Jamaica Gasoline Retailers Association (JGRA) has expressed support for a Jamaican entity which is bidding to purchase Petcom, arguing that the State owned gasolene retailing company should be placed in local hands.
   
Petcom is being sold by the Government.
   
EDJ Acquisition, which is one of  the local bidders, has argued that a segment of  the local gasoline retail trade should be retained by Jamaican entrepreneurs.
   
The JGRA believes Petcom can be properly managed by a local owner, according to Leonard Green, JGRA President.

"Certainly, we believe that Jamaicans... have the capacity to actually own and operate service stations or a marketing company, so the JGRA stands behind every effort by Jamaican interests to acquire the asssets of Petcom," he told RJR News.

He added that the JGRA will monitor Petcom's sale and report its findings to the public, in order to ensure there is transparency.

Stressing that "Petcom was developed years ago to be the conscience of the petroleum trade," he said "the government divesting itself of the conscience of the Petroleum trade, must ensure that the whole concept and the intention of a Petcom is not lost with the sale."