Times Of Swaziland: FUEL WOES: SOME MOTORISTS BREACH CURFEW

FUEL WOES: SOME MOTORISTS BREACH CURFEW
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NHLANGANISO MKHONTA on 15/07/2021 08:41:00


MBABANE – Some motorists have been found to have contravened curfew
regulations due to the fuel woes currently being experienced in the country.
The motorists have since raised concerns over the curfew hours not being
favourable to them, more especially during the current fuel shortage crisis in
Eswatini. The fuel shortage that hit the country saw fuel stations not
functioning normally. Over and above, the curfew hours added to the motorists’
frustrations as after queueing for hours, they would sometimes be forced to
return home without having refuelled their vehicles due to the curfew hours.
Eswatini curfew hours start at 6pm to 5am and is one of the longest curfews in
the Southern African Development Community (SADC) Region.
Curfew
Government announced the curfew as a means to minimise the spread of COVID-19.
Some of the motorists who were interviewed yesterday morning at Mbabane Galp
Filling Station at Eveni and in the Mbabane Central Business District (CBD),
said they started queueing from as early as 4am which was within the curfew
hours. They said they had no choice, but to bend the regulations to get fuel.
They said they wanted to be early so that when the stations started operating at
6am, they would be the first in the queue. Yesterday, Galp Filling Station at
Eveni, Galp Filling Station in the city centre, Engen Filling Station at
Woodlands and Puma Filling Station, were the only filling stations fuelling cars
in Mbabane. However, some of the filling stations had to close early as they ran
out of fuel. At the Engen Filling Station, which is adjacent to Galp, only
diesel was available.
Minister of Natural Resources and Energy Peter Bhembe acknowledged the complaint
about the curfew hours’ effect on motorists during the present situation. He
said government had been engaging with relevant stakeholders in finding a
solution to the fuel predicament and crafting a way out of the curfew hours. He
said they had a meeting on Tuesday where the issue of the curfew hours was also
deliberated. He said the ministry would soon announce the changes that they
hoped would assist emaSwati not to continue suffering that much when it came to
fuel challenges. He said in their meeting, they addressed a number of issues
which included the fuel issues within government and said all the changes would
be detailed and published in due course.
Bhembe said as the country had resolved to source fuel from Mozambique, he was
hopful that would be of great help in ensuring that pumps didn’t run dry. On
Tuesday, the minister urged the public not to resort to panic buying of fuel. He
assured the public that in as much as the service stations would not have fuel
at the same time; the country would not entirely run dry. The minister said
despite the disruption, oil companies, working with all relevant stakeholders,
were making means to ensure that there was fuel in the country. He added that he
was hopeful that the situation would improve each day as companies were
employing alternative measures.