Motorists call for Govt to address fuel shortages

Maxwell Tapatapa Herald Reporter
Motorists have urged the Government to address the current fuel shortages which are disrupting business activities as people are spending long hours in queues at service stations.

Some said they would not be able to travel this festive season if the fuel shortages continued.

“As we look forward to the festive season, we are faced with the problem of fuel shortage and corruption at service stations. Some people are hoarding fuel in drums while we are in queues which should not happen,” said Mr Emphraim Khumbula

Another motorist Mr Kariyange Tapfumaneyi said: “We are not sure whether we will go for holiday because the fuel is scarce. With this situation, we have no hope that we will be able to secure enough fuel to travel to our rural areas.”

Mr Musa Musara said there was need for government to double its usual fuel procurement ahead of the festive season.

“We are encouraging government to ensure that fuel is available in many service stations so that people won’t wait in queues for a long time.

“Businesses are being disturbed because people are spending long hours in queues instead of working to increase the country’s production.”

Deputy Minister of Energy and Power Development Magna Mudyiwa told Senate last week that efforts were underway to ensure that the country had enough fuel during the festive season.

She said the challenge was around the roll-over of lines of credit and credit letters that had been issued for the payment of fuel.

“Now that process is over, I think we have seen that there is a slight improvement at our service stations.

“We have been discussing with the RBZ which issues the letters of credit for them to expedite the process and ensure that the fuel we need is made available before the Christmas holiday.”