By JONATHAN PASUNGWI

Copyright mwnation

Fuel importers yesterday refused to explain the causes of the deepening fuel scarcity, pushing the issue to Malawi Energy Regulatory Authority (Mera) instead.

In separate interviews yesterday, National Oil Company of Malawi (Nocma) spokesperson Raymond Likambale and Petroleum Importers Limited (PIL) general manager Martin Msimuko said Mera, as a regulator, was better placed to give details on the situation.

Mera consumers affairs and public relations manager Fitina Khonje said fuel was flowing into the country through all three routes, namely Dar es Salaam in Tanzania and Mozambican ports of Beira and Nacala.

But she said the fuel may not be coming in equal volumes and that all retail stations were supplied at once.

Khonje said they expect an improvement in supply, but, as Mera, they cannot state the exact time tankers will be supplied to all districts and retail stations.

She said deliveries to retail sites nationwide have enhanced monitoring and the diligence of security agencies in preventing illegal fuel trading practices, including smuggling to ensure that queues disappear.

Said Khonje: “It has been challenging. However, there have been significant fuel inflows from the three routes of Beira, Dar es Salaam and Nacala.

“The fuel supplies are increasing by day, and this is being reflected on the market. The queues are clearing, although not all at once.”

The deepening fuel woes have worsened within a week after President Lazarus Chakwera accused some officials at Nocma of working with “corrupt” cartels to sabotage his administration by throwing spanners in the procurement arrangements purportedly to discredit his regime.

Spot-checks across the country’s four regions have shown that the resurfacing of the fuel shortage has deepened in the past seven days, with long queues of motor vehicles thronging service stations to refuel.

By midday yesterday, no service station in Mangochi and Zomba had petrol while in Machinga, only Liwonde Petroda Service Station had petrol, but with long queues.

The scarcity has hit public transport hard as minibus operators continue hiking fares, citing the high cost of sourcing petrol from the parallel market where prices are inflated.

In an interview yesterday, one of the minibus drivers on Limbe-Mangochi route, Wilson Custom, said petrol scarcity was compelling them to buy the commodity at K10 000 per litre instead of the recommended K2 530.

He said currently, from Limbe to Mangochi they are charging between K25 000 and K30 000 against the normal minibus fare of K15 000.

Passengers, on the other hand, fear that the crisis will not only drain their pockets but also complicate their ability to reach polling stations.

Chikondi Mapapa, a resident of Lunzu in Blantyre, said she will need about K24 000 to travel to Domasi in Zomba where she registered to cast her vote.

The Nation observed that the fuel situation was not as dire in Blantyre, the commercial capital, compared to the Northern and Central regions.

Meanwhile, transporters have been stuck at the ports of Dar es Salaam in Tanzania and Beira in Mozambique.

Chindikani Siyame, a truck driver working for Chimango Investments, said in an interview yesterday that he has been stuck at Dar es Salaam for two weeks while some of his colleagues have been at the port for over three weeks.

He said despite registering and eventually failing to vote today, transporters are still facing challenges with loading fuel.

“Everyone else is loading fuel faster than us. Preference to load is being given to Tanzanians not Malawians. And it is sad that this has persisted until elections. Some of us registered but we will not vote because we are in transit,” he said.

Transporters Association of Malawi spokesperson Frank Banda said in a written response yesterday that a train is transporting fuel through Nacala Port and is being assisted by Malawian trucks.

He said they have allocated about 30 trucks on the Nacala route while 200 trucks were sent on the Beira route, some of which he said arrived on Sunday.

“We had 25 trucks of petrol which were stuck in Dar es Salaam. They got released on Friday and they have entered Malawi,” he said.

In the past three years Malawi has faced erratic availability of fuel largely attributed to shortage of foreign exchange to enable importers procure the commodity seamlessly.