Island gears up for ‘rainy days’ with new storage facility

Prime Minister  Pravind Jugnauth has inaugurated the new warehouse of the State Trading Corporation (STC), in Mer Rouge.

The building is named after the 1982 Minister of Commerce and Industry, Mr Abdool Kader Bayat, as a tribute to his  contribution to create the STC.

The inauguration coincided with the 40th anniversary of the STC.

Jugnauth said the Mer Rouge Oil Storage Terminal became operational recently as a  joint partnership among the following companies: Indian Oil, Vivo Energy, Total Mauritius, Engen Mauritius and the State Trading Corporation.

Five Storage Terminals were constructed to maintain a comfortable leeway of several days of reserve.

“Previously, we had a capacity for only a few days of use. Now, it has been extended to a period of 30-days reserve for petrol and 17-days for diesel,” he pointed out.

He added that the recent hike was inevitable.

Commerce Minister Callichurn announced that the STC would soon import food and non-food products such as cement, cooking oil and milk powder so as to “ensure that consumers benefit from quality products at reasonable prices.”