Highly placed sources last night suggested that the Government is about to put the troubled state-run Petrojam refinery up for sale.

Prime Minister Andrew Holness has scheduled a press conference for this morning at which he is likely to make the announcement, the usually impeccable sources said.

Ahead of any such announcement, senior government minister Dr Horace Chang helped fuel the speculation by making a strident call for the divestment of the scandal-hit entity Saturday night in a prepared speech in Montego Bay, St James.

“The truth is there is no need for a government to own an oil refinery. There is no rationale to it,” said Dr Chang, the national security minister.

“An oil refinery is a commercial activity that is to be owned by business people, run by businessmen whose interest is to have the most efficient plant operating and get the best business deal for the plant. That’s just plain common sense,” Dr Chang argued.

The Opposition People’s National Party (PNP) added fuel to the fire by also scheduling a press conference for this morning — 90 minutes after the prime minister — to discuss the crisis at Petrojam, which has been losing supplies at a cost of $1 billion a year.

The Petrojam debacle has already claimed the scalp of Energy Minister Dr Andrew Wheatley who, while claiming no wrongdoing, has been quoted in a news report as saying he was hurt by the disgrace.

http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/front-page/gov-t-selling-petrojam-_151825