Dana Malcolm

Staff Writer

#TurksandCaicosIslands, December 13, 2023 – Residents of Salt Cay finally have relief following a decline in gas prices for the first time in over a year. The November 2023 Fuel Report provided by the Ministry of Finance, Investment, and Trade revealed that prices had dropped to $8 a gallon for both diesel and regular gas at the only gas station on the island. 

While still higher than all other gas prices in the country, it’s a welcome drop from the $11 a gallon that residents had been paying since 2022. 

Magnetic Media traced the prices back to September 2022, which saw a four-dollar jump from the August 2022 price of $7. That $7 had been the steady cost prior to a spike in oil prices in early 2022, which prompted a tax relief plan from the government.

Despite fluctuations in prices globally and steadily decreasing prices in the Turks and Caicos over the course of 2023; the residents of the smallest inhabited island suffered $11 prices for over a year, and repeated coverage about the sustained prices yielded no change. 

The results of the promised investigations by members of the House of Assembly did not materialize. 

It meant Salt Cay residents were paying nearly twice as much at the pumps as residents in Providenciales. With only one gas station on the island, everyone was feeling the pinch. 

Finally, after 14 months, prices dropped from $3 to $8 per gallon in November 2023.