SATURDAY EXPRESS JUNE 08, 2 K 13.... New contractors at NP By Asha Javeed CCN Senior Multimedia Investigative Journalist Story Created: Jun 7, 2013 at 10:16 PM ECT Story Updated: Jun 7, 2013 at 11:46 PM ECT Damian Lyder, husband of Minister of State in the Ministry of Works and Infrastructure, Stacy Roopnarine, has been granted a gas station to manage by Trinidad and Tobago National Petroleum (NP) Marketing Company Ltd. Lyder, through his company, Fused Royal Ltd, took over management of the St Augustine-based station on June 1. Fused Royal, which was registered by public relations officer of the People’s National Movement (PNM) Faris Al Rawi in December 2009, lists Lyder and Jerry Joseph as directors of the company, which has a registered address at Boundary Road, San Juan. Lyder was one of 28 successful applicants to NP’s Request for Proposals (RFP) for retailers that was publicly tendered for in late 2011 and again last year. The project scope, according to advertisements placed in the daily newspapers, was: “NP is looking for individuals who are entrepreneurial in spirit and willing to invest in the business opportunity. Experience in retail management will be an asset. Our company will provide operational training and a franchise model that will afford you the opportunity to reach your site’s potential.” There were about 163 applicants. The process took NP almost a year to complete and the roll-out of new station franchises under a new model is expected to happen in the coming months. However, the dealers who have been displaced by NP’s new model argue they have been sidelined in favour of supporters of the People’s Partnership administration. The Express understands a meeting was held between NP officials and Energy Minister Kevin Ramnarine to review the process followed by the company in the award of assignments and the expected fallout from disgruntled parties. Among the other successful applicants at NP are: 1. Randy Ramtahal, a director at TSTT and Randy Ramtahal General Contractors (RRGC). Ramtahal was assigned the Maracas Bay station. 2. Basdeo Sharma, ex-husband of restaurateur Jenny Sharma of Jenny’s on the Boulevard. Sharma was assigned the Valencia station. 3. Elie Zakour, a former events co-ordinator and former member of the Udecott board. Zakour was assigned the Starlite (Diego Martin) station. 4. Fides Ltd, whose directors are Amelia Rampersad and Shane Sagar. Fides was assigned the Tragarete Road station. 5. Trinidad and Tobago Security Services, owned by chairman of First Citizens Nyree Alfonso and spouse Towfeek Ali. The company was assigned the Maraval station. 6. NIFT Energy, which was registered on June 13, 2012 and lists its directors as Alisa Aleem and Narisha Aleem. NIFT was assigned NP’s station in Royal Road (San Fernando). 7. Sharma Lalla, former chief executive of Caroni (1975) Ltd, was assigned NP’s Chaguanas branch. 8. Dyanand Maharaj, a director on the board of the Tourism Development Company (TDC) and managing director of Dylam Company Ltd. He was assigned NP’s Siparia branch. 9. Emmanuel Gonsalves, former president of Costatt who was suspended in July 2012 pending an audit into his tenure, was assigned NP’s O’Meara station. 10. Shambrins General Contractors—the Express was unable to find the company’s file in the company registry—was assigned NP’s Tunapuna branch. 11. United Bearings, whose directors are Brendan Garcia, Penelope Garcia, Ryan Garcia, Ronald Andrew Ramos, Badrinath Singh, Troy Nicholas Garcia and Amanda Garcia, was assigned NP’s Barataria branch. 12. Clarry Benn, former chief executive of Unit Trust Corporation (UTC), was assigned NP’s branch in Chase Village. 13. Francis Bertrand, former mayor of Point Fortin, was assigned NP’s branch in Debe. 14. Terrance Belton, a former superintendent of materials at National Gas Company (NGC), was assigned NP’s Santa Flora branch. Among the assets sought from the new applicants, according to the RFP which was issued, were merchandising, promotion, selling skills, inventory management, vendor management, leadership and motivational skills and cash flow management skills. NP’s rationale, according to chief executive Kenneth Mohammed in an interview with the Express yesterday, was to streamline the four models which the company now operates. The four models are: Company Owned Contractor Operated Model (COCO); Company Owned Dealer Operated Model (CODO); Retail Excellence Model (REM); and Dealer Owned Dealer Operated (DODO). The first step was to deal with the COCO model, which had 28 stations and which Lyder was among the recipients. The next step would be for NP to deal with the CODO model, which would impact approximately 70 dealers. Mohammed said after an assessment with Deloitte and Ernst & Young a decision was made to streamline all the service stations owned by NP under one standard operating model similar to that of an international franchise model. He said this would enable NP to better manage and enforce NP brand standards, increase profitability, improve customer service and escalate operational efficiencies. “The model is governed by an extensive contract with a term of ten years. Essentially, NP will be the holder of the retail marketing licence and fuel will be sold to the franchisee under a sub-licence arrangement. “The franchisee will be required to pay to NP an initial investment referred to as the franchise licence fee, equivalent to seven per cent of projected profit. The franchisee will also pay a monthly fee to NP which will be calculated as a percentage of sales, similar to a monthly royalty payment. The monthly payment is calculated on a sliding scale, based on the volume of fuel sold and the value of convenience store sales,” he noted. “Our expertise is in distributing fuel, not in running stations,” he added
Posted on: Sat, 08 Jun 2013 04:38:48 +0000
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