Illegal fuel traders in Lilongwe have defied orders by the Malawi Regulatory Authority (Mera) to stop selling fuel along the roads and near filling stations.
Speaking on condition of anonymity one of the traders at Biwi near Petroda filling station said on Thursday that he cannot stop selling fuel because that is his sole business.
On Wednesday Mera through a press statement signed by Acting chief executive officer Eunice Potani warned.
All illegal fuel traders that they shall be liable to prosecution and imprisonment.
“Any person found carrying on the business of producing, processing, importing, transporting, storing, wholesaling or retailing of any liquid fuel or gas without having in his possession valid and requisite licence issued to him by the authority under the Liquid Fuels and Gas (Production and Supply) Regulations 2009 shall be liable to prosecution and imprisonment,” reads the last paragraph of the statement.
However one of the vendors in an interview said they cannot stop selling fuel because that is their sole cash cow.
“If they say I should quit this business where will I eat. I make money here and it is not like I am in a filling station but I am outside it. If they give me an alternative business I will leave,” said the vendor who resides in Area 24 but has been selling fuel for almost a year now.
The vendor said customers who buy from them find filling stations expensive and that is why they are still in business.
