By Allieu Sahid Tunkara
The Sierra Leone government has dismissed reports of a fuel shortage in the country despite the presence of long ques at fuel stations on Monday 10 June..
Minister of Trade and Industry, Edward Sandi, said there is no fuel shortage and attributed the ques to delay in the delivery of a fuel consignment into the country.
“Such delays caused the public to speculate that there is fuel shortage in the country,” the Minister said.
“There is no fuel shortage” he stressed.
Mr Sandi added that there was enough fuel in the country to meet the usual supply demand.
“5000 metric tons have just landed for NP filling stations,” he stated, adding: “TOTAL has enough.”
Concerns over an imminent shortage of fuel began last week Friday when dozens of drivers and commercial motorists stormed the Total filling stations to purchase petrol.
On Monday morning, the ques grew longer as it emerged that some NP filling stations were not selling. NP is the leading importer of petroleum products into the country, accounting for about 50 percent of the share.
As is the case during every fuel crisis, this situation has translated into a near chaos in the transportation sector. There are reports of some commercial motorists increasing their fares. In parts of the city commuters were left stranded in droves for most part of the day.
There were also reports of long ques in other cities across the country, notably in Makeni in the north, Kenema in the east and Bo in the south.
Street sellers of petroleum products, also known as ‘Jebu sellers’, have exploited the situation through hoarding and overpricing.
Abu Conteh, a taxi driver who plies the Freetown-Kambia highway, told Politico that the crisis started since Friday when petroleum sellers started hoarding petrol.
“On Friday, I had 10 passengers to convey to Kambia. I tried to purchase fuel from three NP filling stations in Freetown, but no one could sell what they have. I drove several kilometers away and stopped at a Total filling station after Jui. I demanded 35 liters from the seller and ended up getting only 20 liters. My journey was badly affected,” Abu explained.
The Tricycle, also known as ‘Keke’, is a popular means of transportation in Freetown. Many of its riders could not operate today because of the shortages. Raul Thorley, a Keke rider that plies the route of Bus Halt, PZ and the central part of Freetown, said he could not operate because of the pressure of getting fuel at the filling stations. He also blamed the black-market sellers for worsening the crisis.
“We are suspecting that people are deliberately hoarding the petrol because they want to make more money,” Raul said.
“I will start to run my Keke transport when the price of petroleum comes down,” he added.
Commuters have suffered the brunt of the shortage on Monday. Alieu Kanu, a resident of Calaba Town, was left stranded for an hour waiting to catch a ride to the center of Freetown.
“The bus did not arrive on time. I have attempted to stop several taxi drivers so that I could get to town. I couldn’t go because I could not afford the money taxi drivers were demanding,” Kanu lamented.
In the past there have been calls for the government to intervene in the petroleum market to stabilize prices and reduce the possibility of shortages. Minister Sandi said government had resisted these calls because it operate a liberalized industry.
“The government is trying to review the price as the Oil Marketing Companies (OMC) have put forward that the plat price of petroleum has gone up a bit. But the technical review would inform the review of the petroleum price,” he told Politico.
There have been allegations regarding the deliberate attempt by NP to hoard the fuel, so that prices will go up.
The company officials refused to talk when a Politico reporter visited their head office.
Politico visited various filling stations across the city. In the morning, these stations were packed with drivers and riders in long ques waiting to be served fuel. But by afternoon, most of the ques had disappeared, after pump attendants stopped selling altogether.
In Bo, the situation was an absolute chaos in many fuel stations.
(c) 2019 Politico Online
