Total blames govt for its Indeni pull-out
Total blames govt for its Indeni pull-outBy George Chellah, Chiwoyu Sinyangwe and Jane Mwakasungula
Thu 22 Oct. 2009, 04:01 CAT
TOTAL International is pulling out of Indeni Petroleum Refinery because of the Zambian government's failure to contribute funds towards rehabilitation of the refinery to enable it meet the required minimum safety standards.
And the Engineering Institute of Zambia (EIZ) has noted that it is not long before a minister and a permanent secretary of the Ministry of Energy is dismissed for mishandling the fuel crisis.
Well-placed sources at the Ministry of Energy and Water Development revealed to The Post that Total International opted to pull out because of the Zambian government's inertia in rehabilitating the refinery to the required minimum safety standards.
Both Total International and the Zambian government hold 50 per cent shares each in the 24,000-barrels-per-day sole refinery.
“Total International has many refineries world over and these several refineries all over the world have what they call minimum safety standards. This simply means that every refinery needs to meet these minimum safety standards to run efficiently and effectively. But Indeni does not qualify at the moment, it doesn't meet these minimum safety standards,” the source said.
“Total has been telling the Zambian government as a partner to inject in some funds towards the rehabilitation of the equipment so that the refinery can meet the minimum safety standards.
"The response from the Zambian government has been very negative so because of that, Total International have decided that they cannot continue running Indeni Oil Refinery because if the refinery caught fire or burns as a result of compromised safety standards, it will be Total International 's image that will be dented worldwide. Therefore, Total International has resolved to pull out purely on account of preserving their image particularly that the Zambian government is not willing to pump in money and rehabilitate Indeni to the requirement safety standards."
The sources disclosed that the Zambian government should not even pretend that they could manage to run the refinery without Total International.
"The government is bragging that they can run Indeni single-handedly, that's a lie! They are merely cheating themselves with such useless talk because they have failed to contribute the amount Total International was asking for to bring back Indeni to acceptable minimum safety standards, so what are they talking about? Total International was requesting for this money as a partner so that together they can rehabilitate Indeni oil refinery," the source said.
"In any case, how are they going to manage if they have failed to run Zamtel? They just want to be using Indeni for raising their campaign funds because even now, we are talking about the shutdown at Indeni but go to Indeni now and you will find that there are no spares for the plant to be rehabilitated during this shutdown. So it's practically impossible for them to even contemplate on effectively running Indeni single-handedly."
Speaker of the National Assembly Amusa Mwanamwambwa on Tuesday ordered energy minister Kenneth Konga to present a ministerial statement this week on the matter regarding Total International and the Zambian government. This was after Chipili PF member of parliament Davies Mwila raised a point of order.
Energy permanent secretary Peter Mumba was quoted in the state owned media as having said that the government was negotiating with Total International to buy the company's 50 per cent shares in Indeni Petroleum Refinery.
He said Total International's decision to sell its stake in Indeni would not affect the supply of fuel.
Mumba said the government had in the last few months engaged in talks with Total to buy the shares although the company had indicated that it had identified a willing buyer of its shares.
And EIZ president Henry Musonda said continued assurances by Konga that the government was in charge did not amount to anything as queues at most service stations had continued.
“That is why EIZ cannot accept the reasons given by the minister on the cause of fuel shortage… It is still fresh in our minds not long ago when a minister and a permanent secretary were dismissed for mishandling the fuel crisis,” Musonda said.
“This is a cause to worry that so many man hours are being lost in queues for petrol. In engineering there is always a schedule of planned maintenance which to every person who drives a car, you will know when you carry routine everyday checks, planned service, major service to replace worn out parts at certain interval like fan belts and timing chains.”
Musonda said the current petrol crisis was an indication that the government had not taken care of the supply chain.
“There is something really wrong which has not been addressed by our government people. If you happen to be in the city of Lusaka, there has been a proliferation of fuel stations in almost all areas,” said Musonda.
“This has seemed a good sign of economic growth and private sector investment and job creation. To add to this there has been an increase in population of motor cars on our roads from the general public and government alike. The increased traffic
congestions is also adding to increasing fuel consumption.”
And key OMCs are still receiving erratic supply of petrol owing to the uncoordinated and erratic inflows of petrol from Dalbit Petroleum Limited and Independent Petroleum Group of Kuwait.
But most key OMCs were cagey and refused to comment on the crisis, referring all queries to the energy ministry.
BP Zambia acting general manager Kenny Muhanga said the country's largest OMC had been receiving the government-sourced petrol but demand was still insatiable.
Muhanga also confirmed that BP Zambia was currently not importing any fuel owing to the absence of the Statutory Instrument (SI) suspending the 25 per cent import duty.
“…The arrangements are still being worked out by the government,” Muhanga said.
Asked whether quick issuance of the SI would have helped BP Zambia to react faster to the crisis, Muhanga refused to comment on the matter and referred all queries to Konga.
Kobil public relations manager Nayoto Kaputa declined to comment on the matter but admitted the OMCs had not had enough petrol stocks.
Repeated efforts to get comment from Konga and Mumba proved futile at press time as their mobile phones went unanswered.
Meanwhile, Council of Churches in Zambia (CCZ) general secretary Reverend Suzanne Matale said there was need for the government to establish the truth about the fuel crisis to avoid instability in the country.
“The truth should be established by government. It owes Zambians the truth. Government should tell the poor Zambians the truth about how long this drama will take. Zambians should not be taken for granted but rather respected as human beings like anybody else.
“This is our country and we deserve to know the truth because it is every Zambian's right,” said Rev Matale.
“Fuel is an important ingredient to any economy. It is the driving engine of any economy. How then does government expect to boost the economy when there is a shortage of man-power and fuel to drive the act?”
Yesterday, Konga was quoted by the Times of Zambia as having said that fuel tankers had arrived in the country but the shortage has persisted in most parts of the country.
Prior to the shortage of petrol, Mumba also assured the nation that the country had sufficient stocks and added that he would resign from his position in the event that the country faced a shortage of the commodity.
In Siavonga Township, residents are crossing to the neighbouring town of Zimbabwe to buy fuel due to the non-availability of the commodity in the area.
A check revealed that motorists were buying a litre of petrol at US $1.23 while that of diesel was pegged at 95 US cents to US $1 .
Labels: CORRUPTION, EIZ, FUEL, INDENI, KENNETH KONGA, PARASTATALS, PETER MUMBA, SUZANNE MATALE
posted by MrK @ 5:29 PM
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