Gasoline Station Owners Want "Their" Increase As Well
It seems everyone is getting on the band wagon to increase gasoline prices. The Refinadora Costarrincese de Petroleo (RECOPE) has requested and received several increases in the price of gasoline in the last six months due to rising world prices for the cost of crude oil.

The price for a litre of gasoline jumped almost ¢40 colones a litre last Saturday in the latest round of gasoline hikes approved by the Autoridad Reguladora de los Servicios Públicos (Aresep) - the regulating authority on public prices and services.

Then, earlier this week, the government made it's announcement that it will be seeking it's trimestral increase in taxes imposed on the sale of gasoline, that would hike the cost another 3% by the end of this week, probably on Saturday.

Now, the gasoline station owners are getting in line for "their" increase. The group has made a formal request to the Aresep for an increase in the margin - profit - they make on the sale of each litre of gasoline.

The gasoline station operators are asking for an additional ¢3 colones on each litre of gasoline dispensed from their pumps.

Berny Ramírez, president of the Asociación de Expendedores de Combustible, says that gasoline station owners have to have an increase to stay profitable, that since the high cost of gasoline, demand has been lower Station owners have seen a reduction as much as 20%, according to Ramírez.

Anyone driving about town can see the effects of the high price of gasoline. Al most no traffic delays at peak hours as more people are using buses and taxis. Taxi drivers say they have seen an increase for demand for their services, as well, buses seem a lot fuller, carrying more passengers on each run.

With the high cost of gasoine, many Costa Ricans take our their vehicles on "pay days" - the 15th and 30th of each month - fill up, use up the gasoline and put the car away until the next pay day.

With the next scheduled increase this Satruday, the cost for a litre of super will be ¢424 colones (us$0.90), ¢405 colones (us$0.86) for regular and ¢305 colones (us$0.65) for a litre of diesel.

Costa Rica has the second highest prices of gasoline in Central America. Honduras is the highest, slightly a few cents more than Costa Rica's prices.

For his part, president Abel Pacheco, considers that the problem is not the high cost of gasoline but that 'ticos" like to travel by car. The president says that Costa Ricans have to reduce their gasoline consumption.

Carlos Manuel Rodríguez, Ministro de Ambiente y Energía (Energy and Environment Minister) says that the government is looking at ways to reduce the consumption of gasoline in the face of increasing prices. He says the government is studying various alternatives that should be made public soon.