Maravi

Fuel crisis persists

Fuel crisis persists
By Staff Reporters
Sunday October 07, 2007 [04:00]

UNIVERSITY of Zambia (UNZA) Development Studies lecturer Dr Fred Mutesa has said authorities in the energy sector need to be held accountable for the fuel shortage prevailing in the country. In an interview, Dr Mutesa said Zambia could not afford to continue having flip backs in the supply of fuel, as it was a vital component to the economic operations of the nation.

“The responsible authorities must ensure that there is consistent supply of fuel because it is vital to the operations of the economy,” Dr Mutesa said. “We cannot afford to have erratic supply of fuel because it is the engine of our economy.”

Dr Mutesa expressed disappointment at the tendency by Indeni Oil Refinery and the Ministry of Energy and Water Development to continue issuing assuring statements when the fuel situation was getting worse.

“It is important to give a peace of mind to consumers by ensuring that supply is adequate, and not through assurances when the situation is getting worse. The Ministry of Energy and Indeni, who are the importers of petroleum products, must be held accountable for their failure to perform to expectations.

Why should they continue issuing assuring statements even when things are not right?” he asked.

Dr Mutesa said consumers had the right to know what was going on, and that it was wrong for authorities to keep consumers in the dark.

Dr Mutesa said the Energy Regulation Board (ERB) had little to do with the fuel shortage, adding that the regulatory body was honest in its operations.

He was reacting to an earlier statement by Patriotic Front president Michael Sata that ERB was not utilising the Strategic Reserve Fund (SRF) diligently.

The Copperbelt Province has in the last few days been hit by a critical shortage of petrol, and the shortage has spread to Lusaka where long queues have been seen at filling stations as motorists wait long hours to get the commodity.

A number of service stations do not have petrol stocks.
And the fuel shortage in Luanshya has persisted, forcing motorists to park their vehicles.
A survey conducted yesterday found that many filling stations had completely run out of petrol.

Long queues of vehicles were found at Zambezi Oil Transport (ZOT) filling station situated in the first class trading area.

Some motorists talked to condemned the government for the shortage, accusing it of lacking foresight.

"The shortage of the commodity clearly shows that our government lacks foresight. This government has a lot of educated people but they cannot plan properly. This is not the first time we have experienced this kind of the situation," said Elvis Jere.

Jere said if nothing urgent was done, the situation could worsen, adding that serious steps must be taken to control the situation.

Some taxi drivers had no option but to park their vehicles following the persistent shortage of fuel.

"There is nothing we can do boss. We just have to wait until the situation normalises," Clement Mponda said.

Luanshya started experiencing the shortage of fuel five days ago, and the situation was similar in Kitwe.

Meanwhile, some public transport operators in Ndola have increased fares following an encompassing fuel shortage on the Copperbelt.

A survey conducted around Ndola yesterday morning established that most of the fuel stations in the city had run out of fuel.

Some motorists were seen driving away from a filling station in Kansenshi after pump attendants gestured to them that they had no fuel stocks.

Taxi drivers talked to said they had taken advantage of the fuel shortage to hike fares because they had to travel long distances in order to buy petrol.

Joseph Kumwenda, a taxi driver, said they have in some cases increased taxi fares by about K5,000.

"For example, the normal charge from Kansenshi to the Trade Fair is K25,000 when there is enough fuel but now the guys are charging about K30,000," he said. "Most people are now going to the DRC border at Kasumbalesa to buy diesel. But even there you have to struggle."

He explained that they were compelled to travel to Kasumbalesa after efforts to get fuel in Kitwe, Chingola and Chililabombwe proved futile.

A fuel attendant at Ndola's Buteko Total Filling Station, Kelvin Bwalya, said they had received about 7,000 litres of premium as of yesterday afternoon but said it was not enough.

"As you can see we are meeting the demand for now," he said. "We have enough stocks of diesel. We have just received 7,000 litres of premium but it is not enough for this long queue."

A long queue of vehicles had formed along Buteko Avenue, as motorists jostled for access to the fuel pumps. In the process some motorists abandoned their vehicles with a view of filling up using jerry cans.

Bwalya further said out of the 7,000 litres they had received they would reserve about 2,000 litres for the over 37 fuel account holders.

Lusaka has also been hit by a fuel shortage of petrol, barely a week after the Copperbelt started experiencing critical shortages of the commodity.

Sata last week accused the Energy Regulation Board (ERB) of failing to properly account for the use of the Strategic Reserve Fund (SRF) hence the persistent fuel shortages.
But ERB stated that the SRF had actually assisted in maintaining the prices of fuel on the local market.

Labels: ERB, FUEL, INDENI

posted by MrK @ 6:46 AM