PRESIDENT of the Small Business Association of Jamaica (SBAJ) Garnett Reid is insisting that the Government engage in talks with key stakeholders before arriving at any fix for the energy crisis being fed by the ongoing tensions in the Middle East.

Reid’s agitation came following indications by Energy Minister Daryl Vaz on Wednesday that, given the sustained upward pressure on both crude oil and refined petroleum product prices in recent months, Jamaicans will have to pay more for petroleum products as early as next week since the $4.50 per litre cap imposed on State-owned oil refinery Petrojam — which has already absorbed billions of dollars in losses to shield buyers from the full impact of the increase — is unsustainable.

Vaz also indicated that the Government is going to have to look at policies to limit especially transportation movements.

“I don’t know whether or not we go back to a COVID-19 hybrid version of working from home, but something has to happen, because the level of traffic that I am seeing on the road doesn’t show me that anybody realises that there is a war and the price of fuel and oil is just continuing to go up and up and up,” Vaz said, during a post-Cabinet media briefing as he urged Jamaicans to begin conserving petrol.

But, in response, Reid told the Jamaica Observer that the Government should reject any suggestion to curtail movement on any scale.

“The Small Business Association of Jamaica is rejecting any shutdown at this time. You need commerce up and running. We just came out of Hurricane Melissa, some of the businesses have not yet even set up. Some doors are just beginning to open, and look like they are now going to close again.

“And so the SBAJ, which is the largest business organisation in Jamaica and the oldest, is not supporting a shutdown of commerce at this time. We have to find a way to fix it, no work from home,” declared a strident Reid.

According to Reid, the SBAJ does not believe working from home now will solve anything.

“We are not supporting that because the fireman cannot work at home, nurse cannot work at home, the supermarket operator cannot work at home, the tailor, the barber, the gas station operator, all of these people cannot work from home, it makes no sense. And I’m calling on the Government to have a meeting with key stakeholders before any decision is made where shutdown is concerned. It is ridiculous,” the SBAJ head stated.

“The SME (small and medium-sized enterprise) sector is also the engine of growth for the Jamaican economy, and accounts for approximately 80 per cent of employment, and contributes billions in tax revenue. We hope that no SME must shut down and get left behind at this time. We also hope that the war in the Middle East will come to an end as quickly as possible, so that life can go back to normality. The SME sector is facing high interest rates, devaluation of the Jamaican dollar, and food crisis, high electricity bills and when electricity bills go up, everything goes up,” added Reid.

He argued that there are several alternatives which will help Jamaicans weather the current energy crisis.

“We’re also calling upon the Opposition and the Government to work together to find a way to fix it, and to save the Jamaican economy. The minister is talking about carpooling, and I agree with the carpooling. For example, you have people living in Caribbean Estate, you have a family of five, maybe five people can travel in one car, you save on toll, and you save on gas. So carpooling I am supporting that, but a shutdown at this time, the Small Business Association Jamaica is rejecting any shutdown of the Jamaican people and economy [because] at this time you need commerce up and running,” Reid told the Observer.

He said institutions such as the Jamaica Public Service Company (JPS) must hold strain with Jamaicans instead of pushing for rate increases.

“Basically we’ve just completed a seven per cent increase on electricity. They must remember that the Jamaican people just loaned them US$150 million. So I am saying that JPS, some of these institutions, they can absorb some of these expenses to save the Jamaican people, to save the micro, small and medium-sized enterprises, and get Jamaica running,” Reid stated as he called for less reliance on petroleum.

“I am therefore using this media to call upon my Jamaican people to go solar… It will be expensive to start, but over a long period of time, you will pay less. You will only use the JPS grid, and you will pay about $4,000 to $5,000 per month where the electricity is concerned. We have to go so solar… we cannot drop dead,” said Reid as he pointed out that several entities have provided loans to allow people to transition to solar energy sources.

“This is crisis after crisis, there are a lot of members still yet not come out of Hurricane Beryl (2024), then we had Melissa (2025), then we have the Middle East crisis. Then we are up on the 2026 Hurricane Season [June 1 to November 30]. God forbid, crisis after crisis, and I hope we don’t have another hurricane,” Reid said.

Ex-refinery prices as of April 9 saw E10-87 gasoline being sold at $176.88; E10-90 gasoline for $184.32; automotive diesel at $189.25; and ultra low sulphur diesel at $196.09.

According to the energy minister, between March 12 and April 8, 2026, the full increase in transport fuel prices averaged approximately $49.20 per litre. However, only $18 per litre was passed on to consumers based on the Government’s pricing cap at $4.50 per litre per week up or down.

Vaz underscored that this was made possible through Petrojam’s pricing mechanism, which absorbed the remaining cost — amounting to approximately US$8.6 million or $1.3 to $1.4 billion over the period — in order to cushion the impact on consumers.

According to Vaz, given the growing fiscal pressure, if the current pricing mechanism continues to June 2026 it would cost the Government $11.8 billion, an amount he said “is unaffordable and unsustainable, and is two-thirds of this budget year’s revenue measure”.

Prior to the tensions global oil prices were relatively stable — on average $70 per litre with moderate fluctuations. The escalation in tensions has disrupted the stability leading to sustained upward pressure on both crude oil and refined petroleum product prices.

There was some good news on Friday as the price of crude oil fell sharply after Iran’s foreign minister said the Strait of Hormuz would be completely open to commercial shipping for the “remaining period of the ceasefire”.

Following the announcement, the cost of a barrel of Brent crude fell to below US$90 a barrel, having been above US$98 earlier in the day.

NYMEX light sweet crude, the US benchmark, also dropped significantly.

Before the conflict, Brent crude was trading at just below US$70 a barrel. It rose above US$100 in early March and peaked at more than US$119 later that month.

Energy Minister Daryl Vaz making the point during the post-Cabinet media briefing on Wednesday that no decision has yet been made to curtail movements. Joseph Wellington