LONG winding queues have resurfaced at fuel stations in
Bulawayo with motorists expressing frustration over the situation during the
lockdown.
Service station staffers who spoke to Chronicle yesterday
said they had been instructed to sell limited quantities of fuel as they were
hoarding the rest of their supplies in anticipation of a rumoured fuel price
hike.
An attendant in Belmont said his boss had told him to only
sell 5 000 litres out of 47 000 litres which was available.
“We have more than 33 000 litres petrol and about 14 000
litres of diesel now although we are expecting more deliveries. So, my bosses
have said we must not sell more than a combined 5 000 litres of both petrol and
diesel as fuel is expected to go up. If it goes up and we sell at the new
price, we will make a profit, so right now, we are only using one pump for
petrol and one pump for diesel. On a normal day we use three or four pumps for
each,” he said.
On Tuesday last week, the Zimbabwe Energy Regulatory
Authority (Zera) reduced the price of petrol and diesel by 77 cents and 68
cents respectively owing to a fall in Free on Board (FOB) prices and the
revised duty regime.
Zera said the new prices would see a litre of blend petrol
(E5) retailing at $21 while diesel would sell at $20,84 per litre. Prior to the
review, the price of petrol was pegged at $21,77 while diesel was at $21, 52
per litre.
Chronicle observed yesterday that there were long queues at
most service stations, which had petrol and were selling in local currency.
Service stations that sold in forex had few vehicles waiting for service.
Motorists said they feared that the pre-lockdown fuel
queues were back as more vehicles returned on the roads following a slight
relaxation of the Covid-19 lockdown.
Some said they feared a fuel price increase, which was the
norm after fuel shortages.
A motorist, Mr Sitshoni Donga, who was in a queue along
Luveve Road in Entumbane suburb said he was puzzled about what caused the fuel
shortage and long queues during the lockdown when there were few vehicles on
the roads. “I have been in the queue for more than four hours now. There were
more than 50 cars ahead of me but the queue is moving slowly. I wonder why we
are having queues during lockdown. Kombis which are always blamed for chaos and
confusion are not even there and we usually say they are the reason for fuel
queues. They are not on the road but we still have long queues,” he said.
Mr Nqobani Mthunzi from Nkulumane 12 suburb said Government
must make a provision for essential services workers to access fuel without
having to queue at service stations.
“I cannot be rushing for a patient and also be expected to
wait in line with everyone else. There is nothing special about me as a person,
but that patient waiting to be attended to is special. All life is precious and
every hour I spend in a queue may be the defining moment of whether she lives
or not,” he said.
Ms Patience Nkomo from Southwold Suburb, said the lockdown
provided an opportunity for Government to sort out the fuel sector so that when
normalcy returned, fuel woes would be a thing of the past.
“Government must use the lockdown period to ensure that it
fixes what usually creates chaos. At some point they said public service
vehicles will have to have their own service stations to avoid queues. Right
now kombis are parked but we are in queues. It shows that kombis were not the
problem,” said Ms Nkomo.
Ms Nicola Ncube said: “There was a rumour that the fuel
price will go up. Maybe service stations are planning to hoard that fuel so
that they start selling only when the fuel goes up.”
In an interview, Minister of Energy and Power Development,
Fortune Chasi said:
“We are looking into the matter. Unfortunately, I cannot
give a response now but after engagements with my team, I will be able to
respond tomorrow.”-Chronicle
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