The Tribune

BY ANNELIA NIXON

TRIBUNE Business Reporter

anixon@tribunemedia.net

AFTER 53 years in the petroleum retail business, Bernard “Porky” Dorsett is yesterday said he is still dreaming big with plans to tear down his existing Rubis service station and rebuild it with electric vehicle (EV) charging infrastructure.

Mr Dorsett, who operates Porky’s Rubis Service Station on East Street south, was honoured by the Bahamas Petroleum Retailers Association (BPRA) for his decades of service and advocacy for the industry. But, rather than treating the recognition as the culmination of his career, the veteran retailer said he is already preparing for his next major project: Demolishing and rebuilding his station.

“This is only some of the dreams I have,” he said. “I’m a good dreamer. I’ve been dreaming all my life. Everything you see around me started with a dream. And this was one of the dreams that I hoped one day would happen, and today is the day.”

Mr Dorsett said he began in the petroleum business in 1972, after previously operating on Madeira Street before moving to his current location. His next goal is to reposition the station, moving the building towards the back of the property and changing its orientation to create what he believes will be a better layout.

“My dream now is to knock the building down and start a new one before I leave this place,” he said. “Fellows say, ‘But Porky, you just spend all this money on there’. I say, ‘You ever go to the US? One day you see it and then you don’t see it?’ I ready to take this one down and put it where it’s supposed to be. It in the wrong place right now.”

Mr Dorsett said preliminary work is already under way, with his older brother preparing the drawings for the redevelopment. “I trying to move some of the garbage out now so I could start,” he said.

“My older brother…is doing the drawing right now, and once we get that finally approved, we’re trying to figure how we can keep the station open while we do the work we’re doing. But, hey, we’re working on it.”

The redevelopment is also expected to reflect Mr Dorsett’s embrace of electric vehicles (EVs), with plans to install at least six EV chargers at the rebuilt station. Mr Dorsett, who has driven an electric vehicle for about five years, said the shift toward EVs is already changing what customers will expect from businesses.

“I drive an EV, so we gone to have some of them chargers on the site,” he said. Mr Dorsett said convenience will be critical as EV adoption grows, noting that he once had to spend nearly 40 minutes charging his vehicle after forgetting to charge it at home.

“I had to end up going to Carmichael Road and sit on the side of the road for almost 40 minutes to put some charge in my car because I forgot to charge it that night,” he added.

Mr Dorsett also used his recognition to renew his call for greater Bahamian ownership of petroleum stations, arguing that dealers who have invested their lives and money into the industry should ultimately own the assets they operate.

“The key is, and always had been pushed, is we got to own what we work with,” he said. “We need to own it. We need to own it. We need to have these foreigners turn over these stations to the people that run them. The people who put all their money in it, put their whole life in it. They’re the people who need to run these stations.”

Mr Dorsett also criticised the impact of rising fuel prices on retailers, arguing that government revenue increases alongside pump prices while dealers’ margins remain fixed.

“Our problem is we don’t control gas prices,” he said. “Whatever they throw at us, we got to take it. My only concern is, the higher gas price go, the more money the government make, the less money we make.”

Mr Dorsett said retailers receive a fixed margin per gallon while government revenue increases as fuel prices rise. “We make 76 cents on every gallon of gas we sell, whether we buy it for $3 or sell it for $10,” he said. “That’s the difference.” 

He also pushed back against calls for wider adoption of self-service pumps, arguing that the change could threaten the livelihoods of pump attendants. “The only thing about self-service to me is we got some folks who make a living at these pumps,” Mr Dorsett said.

“So we going to send plenty of them home. And in this day and age, that ain’t the place we need to go right now.” He added that pump attendants can also supplement their income through tips.

“We got pump attendants take home $50, $60 every day as a tip. So he takes his job serious,” Mr Dorsett said. The BPRA recognition brought together fellow petroleum retailers, who described Mr Dorsett as a pioneer and long-standing advocate for dealers.

Peter Roker, operator of Roker’s Gas Station, said the Association wanted to use the occasion not only to honour Mr Dorsett but to highlight the succession of Bahamian ownership within the sector.

“It’s a great pleasure for the BPRA, Bahamas Petroleum Retailers Association, to honour one of our most distinguished dealers, petroleum dealers, Porky,” Mr Roker said.

“But you know, we’re putting the icing on the cake today, and what we’re doing is we’re showing the country, The Bahamas, the lineage, the succession plan that some Bahamians have in place.”

Mr Roker said petroleum dealers contributed money towards the honour, with any excess funds to be donated to a charity selected by Mr Dorsett.

Harold Watson, another petroleum station operator, described Mr Dorsett as a pioneer and “very aggressive young fellow”. Eulease Johnson, operator of Shell Wulff Road and Shell Harold Road, called Mr Dorsett her hero.

“Mr Porky, Mr Dorsett, is my hero,” she said. “He’s a warrior and an indomitable spirit. He is not afraid to take on challenges, and we need somebody like him in every sector of our community.” 

Oswald Moore, operator of Rubis East West Highway and Rubis Harbour Bay stations, said Mr Dorsett has remained a strong voice within the industry. “He speaks strong,” he said. “He voices his opinion, and he’s a strong part of The Bahamas Petroleum Retailers Association.” 

And Clyde Rashad, operator of Esso on Wulff Road and Soldier Road, said Mr Dorsett has spent decades fighting for dealers’ interests.

“I’ve been in the business about 25 years, and from day one, he’s been a very strong advocate for our rights as dealers, and it’s never stopped,” Mr Rashad said. “And even at 80 he’s still doing it.”