Thursday, March 28, 2024

Kasama residents want fuel shortage addressed

Share

Motorists queue up for fuel at Engen service station in Kasama
Motorists queue up for fuel at Engen service station in Kasama

THE shortage of petrol in Kasama has persisted for more than three months and residents are now calling on Government to urgently find a lasting solution to the problem.

An on-the-spot check at filling stations here revealed that only the Total outlet operated by Olmac Limited had petrol yesterday.

The other filling stations which include Puma and Engen were deserted due to lack of petrol.

There was a long queue of vehicles at Total filling station with some motorists getting in line at 06:00 hours.

Some motorists and residents said that the only solution is to build more filling stations and a reserve tank.

Tercier Lukwesa, a taxi driver, said the shortage of petrol is adversely affecting their business because they are spending most of their time in queues.

Mr Lukwesa said for the past three days, he has been waking up at 05:00 hours to buy petrol in time and avoid unnecessary congestion.

“If only the Government can build a reserve and two more filling stations, this problem will be solved,” he said.

Mr Lukwesa said a lot of people are buying vehicles and the current number of filling stations is not enough to cater for the increasing number.

Emmanuel Daka, a resident of Kasama, described the petrol situation in Kasama as pathetic, adding that it should be addressed immediately.

“We hope Government will hear our cries and do something about this pathetic fuel situation in Kasama,” he said.

Another resident, Everest Chela, said the three service stations cannot adequately service the ever-increasing numbers of vehicles.

Mr Chela said more filling stations should be built.

11 COMMENTS

  1. It is not Gvt’s business to build petrol stations. It is like asking Gvt to build grocery shops because you have shortages of sugar, toothpaste, soap etc.

    • Petrol stations/fuel stations are there in Kasama,,, what is not there is fuel, dont you get it??
      PF and Sata controls the national supply and distribution of fuel, they are broke to pay their suppliers and they are clueless. GBM would come in handy at this point, you yes!!

  2. Rotten Teeth indeed. Its govts duty to create an environment and its govts duty to ensure facilities meant for smooth livelihood of its people are met . If in Lusaka we experience fuel shortage. Must we say its not govt duty to look into such a problem honestly??

  3. My simple argument is that Gvt’s responsibility ends at creating the necessary environment. I dont think it is right to expect Gvt to construct and run petrol stations as the story seems to suggest. Even if this happened in Lsk, I would not expect Gvt to respond by constructing and running petrol stations. Let’s have objective and well reasoned arguments and not cheap name calling or labelling.

  4. After all that seems to be a perfect business opportunity for some entreprenure to take advantage of . The question you might want to ask therefore is why are people not building those petrol stations in Kasama ? The answer is simple : the price of fuel is too low and the volumes in rural areas far too low to make an attractive investment case . Until the price of fuel is not kept artificially low , investors will find difficult to open petrol stations in rural areas where the qunatities of fuel sold are relatively low . That is the challenge which gvt needs to address. Unfortunately it requires more thinking than winning a by- election.

  5. Look beyond what you see you ordinary Zambians!
    It’s PF trying to get back at GBM but the ones to pay for GBM’s sins are his electorates!
    This is how dirty your politics have become!
    This has never happened in Kasama!
    Why now?
    They really want to squeeze him!

  6. Revert to the old system,where its cheaper in ndola then a bit expensive in kasama.there won’t be shortages in areas distant from indeni ,thers petrol in ndola plenty of it.

Comments are closed.

Read more

Local News

Discover more from Lusaka Times-Zambia's Leading Online News Site - LusakaTimes.com

Subscribe now to keep reading and get access to the full archive.

Continue reading