The Tribune

The operator of the newest Esso-branded gas station on Sir Milo Butler Highway is targeting commercial clients such as jitneys and heavy equipment vehicles with fuel, facilities and forecourt space dedicated to their needs.

Peter Roker, a fuel industry veteran with four decades of experience, and who was among the first to establish a major commercial presence on Carmichael Road with City 2000, believes the reliability and cost of diesel fuel play a key role in how New Providence’s transportation sector functions.

“Fuel decisions don’t stay at the pump,” Mr Roker said. “They move straight into fares, construction costs, service reliability and, ultimately, into the cost of living and doing business.”

Mr Roker points to the jitney system as a clear illustration of fuel’s residual impact. An estimated 200 to 300 jitneys operate daily across more than 40 routes throughout New Providence, moving hundreds of passengers to and from their work, education and services.

“If transport slows, the economy slows,” Mr Roker added. “The people who rely on public service transportation feel it first, and the effects ripple outward.”

Mr Roker said his plan for the newly-established Sir Milo Butler Highway gas station is to develop a long-term focus on commercial clients. The facility is built around the needs of jitneys, big buses and heavy equipment, so it has been constructed with generous forecourt space and a four-pump, high-capacity diesel system to support efficient access for commercial vehicles.

The objective, Mr Roker added, is not marketing visibility but operational efficiency for commercial users. “This is about access, capacity and predictability,” he said. “When operators can fuel efficiently, they plan better, price more steadily and operate with fewer shocks.”

Mr Roker said the downstream effects extend beyond transport into building activity, marine services and tourism mobility - areas where timing, reliability and cost control are critical to national competitiveness.

To ensure consistency in how fuel relief is delivered, the operation uses a structured customer system supported by his free RGS Loyalty Card. “The card is just the mechanism,” Mr Roker said. “This is not just a promotion. It is a long-term operating approach.”

Mr Roker plans to share these ideas with Kiwanis service clubs and other civic organisations, framing them as practical economic lessons drawn from decades of operating in The Bahamas.

"I've experienced both low-cost and high-cost periods, hurricanes and many other challenges," Mr Roker said. “The question is always whether you extract more or help steady the system. I’ve always believed in the latter.”