Chitipa District Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) Network has warned sugar distributors and fuel service stations in the border district to be careful when selling the products as vendors are allegedly smuggling sugar and fuel to neigbouring countries.
The network’s chairperson Patrick Ziba issued the warning on Monday after visiting Meru Service Station and Chitipa Simama Sugar Depot to assess the availability of the products.
He said they wanted to appreciate what was happening on the ground with the scarcity of fuel and sugar while neighbouring countries have the same.
Said Ziba: “We visited Meru Service Station and Chitipa Simama Sugar Depot to appreciate the challenges. We appealed to these companies to sell their products only to Malawians.
“We are losing revenue because sugar is smuggled to Tanzania and Zambia without getting value added tax and other revenues.”
He said the business community in Chitipa should love their people and refrain from smuggling of fuel and sugar.
Meru Service Station manager Elita Kaseghe said fuel scarcity in Chitipa arises because it takes weeks for them to be allocated the commodity.
“We do not sell fuel to be smuggled. When people come with jerry cans we seek permission from Malawi Energy Regulatory Authority. But if they are maize mill owners, we allow 20 litres of diesel after submitting a business licence,” he said.
On her part, Simama Sugar Depot sales and marketing manager Beatrice Haonga also commended the CSOs for their inspection.
She said as a sugar distributor, they sell sugar to registered wholesalers who then sell to retailers.
“We even have plans this month to open outlets at Kapoka, Nthalire and Ifumbo so that business people from those sites have sugar at their doorstep,” said Haonga.
