FUEL SHORTAGE ON XMAS

MANZINI – Motorists were limited in the Manzini Region as most filling stations had dry bowsers and public transport workers claim that their services could be limited if the challenge is not sorted.

The long Christmas weekend was gloomy for some motorists, especially taximen and public transport workers, as there was a fuel shortage in the hub.  Some filling stations had signs which advised motorists that they had run out of fuel. This resulted in people having to travel long distances to get fuel in containers. It was gathered that the fuel shortage was reportedly caused by lack of supply.  

According to Sanele Dlamini, a taximan, the challenge in fuel supply proved to have affected their services because they could not work under the current circumstances. Dlamini said he had to travel from Ngculwini to get fuel at Puma Filling Station around Moneni, as he ran out of fuel while on the way. He alleged that even when they got to the filling stations, they were required to pay bribes for buying fuel. “These are really trying times because as it were, the price of fuel has recently been increased. Worse still, there are no customers because people are home for the Christmas holidays. It is really bad,” said the taximan.  When drawn for comment on the challenges in fuel supply, Fuel Retailers Association (FRA) member, Shaun Carmichael attributed it to Galp not being able to supply its retailers.

Reasons

He said what was happening now was that Puma and Galp filling stations were having a problem sourcing fuel for unknown reasons, creating a snowball effect and in turn, Total and Engen filling stations were battling to keep up with the demand because other companies did not have fuel. “It’s not really a shortage, the reason is that the demand is high at this time of the year, Galp and Puma are having a problem,” Carmichael said. He elaborated that if they (filling stations) had fuel, this challenge would not have existed. However, Carmichael said he was aware that Galp Filling Station was in constant communication with the Ministry of Natural Resources and Energy to address the challenge.

The fuel shortage is not new in the country as recently, there was a lack of supply following violent protests which culminated in looting and vandalism of properties in the country, ultimately making it hard for fuel retailers to get supply from their suppliers. The same happened a few months back and one of the reasons was the burning of a fuel depot in South Africa, KwaZulu-Natal, among other things, resulting in government services being disrupted in the process. 
This included ambulances being grounded and police vehicles failing to reach some areas to attend to out to emergencies.

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