Fuel queues return amid shortage
Queues of more than 80 vehicles were the order of the day at service stations in Zomba, Blantyre and Mzuzu as fuel shortage has resurfaced.
During spot checks in Blantyre and Limbe, we counted more than 12 service stations which had diesel but no petrol.
At three service stations, we observed tankers delivering petrol while queues of vehicles had formed.
Motorcyclist Precious Sitole said he had been waiting under the scorching sun for several hours to purchase the commodity.
“I have not been able to conduct business since Monday evening because of the fuel shortage and if this continues my family is going to suffer,” he said
Minibus driver Bamusi Kambwiri, who was waiting for petrol at Petroda Service Station at Mount Pleasant said drivers were buying fuel at K4 000 per litre on the black market and were pushing the extra cost to commuters.
At one service station where there was petrol in Limbe, we found motorcyclists scrambling for the commodity as they accused each other of jumping the queue. Amid the chaos, some customers were buying fuel in 20 litre jerry cans.
In Zomba, a long queue formed at Petroda Filling Station as early as 7am with motorists saying the situation had frustrated their businesses. The same situation was observed in the lakeshore district of Mangochi.
In the capital city, Lilongwe, most service stations had fuel and commuters celebrated Mother’s Day festivities normally.
But Mzuzu City was not lucky. Our visit to Mzuzu Main Puma Service Station, which is one of the busiest in the central business city, revealed that it was out of petrol after depleting their 5 000 litres ration drawn from National Oil Company of Malawi (Nocma) on Monday.
Luwinga Petroda and Puma service station supervisors said they have not had stable petrol supply for the past three to four days.
“We accessed 10 000 litres of petrol from Nocma on Monday but that will soon be depleted this afternoon as you know this is one of the busiest stations in town.
“Frankly, we have not had stable fuel supply since the crisis last year,” said Luwinga Puma Service Station supervisor Limbani Mkandawire.
The fuel shortage has not spared Chitipa where it has pushed petrol price to K5 000 per litre on the black market as service stations have been without the commodity for two weeks.
Some people in the district have resorted to looking for petrol in Tanzania while business operators reveal that they are struggling to ferry their goods due mobility challenges and rising costs for public transport.
Malawi Energy Regulatory Authority (Mera) consumer affairs and public relations manager Fitina Khonje yesterday acknowledged that some areas of the country experienced fuel supply chain interruption.
She attributed the depletion of petrol in the service stations to panic buying following rumours that fuel prices had been adjusted.
Said Khonje in a written response: “Replenishment of supplies is ongoing. The fuel sector is managing the impact of foreign exchange access challenges on the fuel supply chain.”
National Oil Company of Malawi (Nocma) deputy chief executive officer Micklas Reuben said they were making petrol deliveries to filling stations but referred us to Mera for a national picture.
However, Khonje did not provide figures on the stocks available in the fuel strategic reserves.
In recent weeks, pressure has been mounting on Mera to raise fuel pump prices to reflect the realities of landed costs and avert looming fuel stock-outs.
The Nation in August reported that fuel importers have incurred K785 billion losses which Mera must pay in compensations.
Mera’s failure to reimburse the under-recoveries forced fuel importers, desperate to shore up their working capital and keep trading, to withhold K330 billion in levies.
The current price of petrol is K2 530 per litre while diesel is at K2 734 per litre.