A FUEL shortage which had hit most parts of Lusaka has ended.
Fuel tankers rolled out of fuel depots on Friday night and yesterday to deliver petrol and diesel to filling stations that had run out of stocks.
The shortage was caused by a strike by tanker drivers who were protesting the gunning down of their colleague who was allegedly stealing fuel.
Random checks by Sunday Mail at filling stations revealed shortened queues of motorists waiting patiently for their turn to buy the commodity. On Friday night, the queues were much longer.
Most filling stations on the Great East Road had fuel as early as 07:00 hours while some fuel tankers were found off-loading the commodity.
Motorists, who had earlier been frustrated about the shortage, were eventually relieved that they were able to buy fuel.
They were also relieved that the fuel tanker drivers had called off their protest.
“My fuel gauge was at empty last night, so I withdrew from the queue and went home for fear I might be stuck. I woke up this morning with a container to look for fuel until we were tipped that Puma Chelstone had fuel,” Charles Banda said.
By press time yesterday, queues at most filling stations had cleared as motorists were buying the commodity normally.
On Friday, Minister of Local Government and Housing Stephen Kampyongo, Minister of Home Affairs Davis Mwila, and Deputy Minister of Energy Charles Zulu held a lengthy meeting with the drivers, who agreed to resume transporting fuel to service stations.
Mr Kampyongo, who urged motorists not to panic, said government attaches importance to the fuel chain.
Minister of Energy Dora Siliya, in a statement issued on Friday evening, said the shortage was as a result of non-delivery from the holding depot within Lusaka to the main depot and filling stations.
Last Tuesday, a fuel tanker driver was shot dead by a security officer in Lusaka after the owner of the truck found him allegedly decanting fuel from his Lake Petroleum truck.
