Chronicle Editor
Long and winding queues of cars at filling stations have become common in most cities and towns. Many motorists are spending long hours in fuel queues at the expense of production. Many fuel stations are running out of the special liquid soon after delivery because of panic buying and hoarding by motorists.
The Minister of Energy and Power Development Dr Jorum Gumbo has assured the nation that there is enough fuel in the country to meet demand so there is no need for panic buying or hoarding of fuel.
Dr Gumbo said Msasa and Mabvuku depots in Harare had enough fuel to meet the country’s daily demand while pumping of fuel through the Feruka Pipeline is ongoing. The Minister said the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe is spending $20 million weekly to import fuel which is enough to meet the country’s daily requirements of 2,5 million litres of diesel and 1,5 million litres of petrol.
Dr Gumbo said the panic buying and hoarding of fuel was causing artificial shortages and also creating a “false crisis”. False media messages were also causing panic buying and hoarding. Minister Gumbo urged motorists to stop hoarding fuel and only buy what they require at any given time as they are guaranteed constant supply of fuel.
The Central Bank will spend more than $650 million importing fuel this year. The demand for fuel is expected to increase as industry increases production and Government is already working on plans to meet this increased demand.
The long term fuel supply model that the Government is working on will remove the burden of allocation of foreign currency from the Central Bank as the multiple fuel importers source their own foreign currency.
Last week Finance and Economic Development Minister Professor Mthuli Ncube said Government will soon invite investors to create a regional fuel dry port at the Mabvuku Loading Gantry and Msasa Depot storage facilities. He said once established, the port will serve even neighbouring countries.
Following Minister Gumbo’s assurance, we expect fuel queues to disappear as motorists revert to buying only what they require. Zimbabweans must be wary of the country’s detractors that are now peddling falsehoods through social media messages in order to cause chaos in the country. Businesses are panicking as a result of these detractors’ falsehoods hence the unwarranted price increases being witnessed.
Industry and Commerce Minister Mangaliso Ndlovu has already said the price hikes are speculative and therefore unjustified.
We want to urge the business community to uphold business ethics and stop this madness of unwarranted price hikes in order to make super profits. Criminals thrive where there is chaos and as a nation we should strive to avoid chaos.
derick.khumalo