The shortage of petrol has continued in most parts of Eastern Province, with fuel service stations only providing the commodity to account holders.

A check by ZANIS in Chipata found the BP and Total filling stations without the commodity, while Caltex filling station was providing only petrol to account holders.

Management stated that the commodity they had in stock was only for account holders who had already paid for it.

At Total filling station, petrol ran out last week, according to sources who sought anonymity.

The sources said the filling station would receive petrol tomorrow, adding that the commodity has already been loaded and is expected to arrive in the district by tomorrow.

BP filing station has had no petrol since last week. A source who chose to remain anonymous said the station is expecting the commodity by Thursday.

And in Petauke, the situation was the same at IMY Filling station where only account holders are accessing the commodity.

And the only BP filling station in Katete district did not have the commodity, according to a check by ZANIS.

Sources who chose to remain anonymous said the filling station has had no petrol for over a week.

Meanwhile, fuel dealers have taken advantage of the fuel crisis to smuggle petrol for sell to motorists in Chipata district.

A check found fuel vendors near Caltex and BP filling stations selling the commodity in five litre containers to motorists.

A check by ZANIS at Lundazi Service filling station, found enough stocks to last for two weeks.

According to a reliable source, the filling station has in stock 35000 litres of diesel and 17000 litres of petrol.

And Taxi operators in Kabwe have taken advantage of the petrol shortage that has affected the entire nation, to hike the fares on most routes.

A survey by ZANIS today, discovered that fares from town to various compounds have been hiked by over fifty percent.

The booking fare from Ngungu to town, which was K20, 000 has gone up to K35, 000, while the booking fare from town to Chowa has been raised from K10, 000 to K20, 000.

The other route affected is that from town to Chindwin barracks where passengers are paying K35, 000 from town from the normal fare of K25, 000.

A taxi driver who declined to be named said fuel vendors had also hiked the price of petrol to K220,000 per 20 Liter container from K130, 000.

Kabwe town has for almost three weeks has had insufficient petrol due to the depletion of the catalyst that is used in the processing of petrol and the subsequent closure of Indeni refinery in Ndola for routine maintenance.

Government has however assured the nation that the situation is under control.

ZANIS

The fuel situation in Luanshya has become desperate, as motorists continue queuing up for the commodity on a daily basis.

A check by ZANIS at all the three filling stations in the town found that motorists, especially taxi drivers, were in long queues, anticipating that the service stations would receive the commodity.

Proprietor of Chisongo BP Service Station in the second class trading area Vijay Takur said, he was expecting between 5,000 to 10,000 litres of petrol tomorrow.

Takur further said, although motorists had queued up, no amount of petrol would be received from suppliers today.

At the other two filling stations, the fuel attendants were ignorant as to when fuel would be received.

The majority of motorists have parked their vehicles, while others are paying through the nose to get a 2.5 litre of petrol at K25,000 from the black market.

Commuters on the other hand, are using buses on the routes used by taxis.
The fuel shortage has affected the entire country and the bank of Zambia governor Caleb Fundanga has warned that the economy may slid down if the situation was not addressed on time.
[ZANIS]

The Maize Research Institute (MRI) has expressed displeasure at the rising number of illegal seed dealers who are supplying fake seeds to farmers in Southern Province.

MRI Mazabuka distributor Gilbert Vlahakis took a swipe at the illegal seed dealers who have invaded Southern Province.

Mr. Vlahakis was speaking during a sensitization meeting for this season’s farmer input support programme (FISP) attended by senior agricultural officers and district agriculture committee chairpersons in the province at Munzhi Lodge in Choma.

He said that 18 cases of fake seed dealers in the province have so far been identified, from whom two to three metric tonnes of fake seeds have been confiscated.

Mr. Vlahakis further said Southern Province has been targeted by brief case seed dealers who are taking advantage of the fact that region has the highest users of high breed seeds.

He cited the indent in Chikankanta area where farmers were swindled by briefcase dealers who sold them 83 bags of fake seeds purported to have been supplied by MRI.

Mr. Vlahakis warned that the problem of illegal seed suppliers will soon reach alarming levels if left unchecked.

He urged senior agricultural officers in the province to work closely with seed companies and Seed Control and Certification Institutes to arrest the situation.

Mr. Vlahakis explained that fake seed dealers have become sophisticated as they are using bags, labels and chemicals also used by licensed seed companies when marketing their fake seeds.

He expressed sadness to note that 9 cases of illegal seed dealers who were arrested by the police in the province last season were not taken to court despite overwhelming evidence being available.

The senior agricultural officers endorsed a decision to have fake seed dealers prosecuted, by invoking the seed control and certification Act.

They unanimously resolved to take punitive action against illegal seed dealers through the courts of law, to ensure that the vice is addressed.

[NAIS/ZANIS]

THE current fuel shortage should be addressed quickly to avoid jolting the country’s economy, Bank of Zambia (BoZ) governor, Caleb Fundanga has said.
Dr Fundanga said on Radio Phoenix monitored in Lusaka yesterday that the fuel shortage may lead to a rise in the cost of production and derail the revised inflation target of 12 per cent set for the end of this year.
“Authorities should actualise the measures taken so that the situation is normalised, otherwise this will have a devastating impact on the economy,” Dr Fundanga said.
Apart from the inflation target of 12 per cent, the Government also projected to achieve year-end economic growth of 4.3 per cent in 2009.
Meanwhile, Finance and National Planning Minister, Situmbeko Musotwane has said the Government would this week sign a statutory instrument to waive import duty on fuel to allow oil marketing companies (OMCs) source finished petroleum products at affordable prices.
In an interview in Lusaka yesterday, Dr Musokotwane said once the statutory instrument was signed, it would allow the OMCs to bring in petroleum products and help avert the fuel shortage.
He said the decision to suspend the 25 per cent duty on imported fuel was done in good faith and that the decision should be supported by all Zambians interested in seeing the situation normalise.
Dr Musokotwane said the decision to waive duty on fuel should not be politicised and reiterated the Government’s commitment to ensuring that fuel supply was normalised to enhance productivity.
“The recently suspended 25 per cent import duty on fuel will be implemented before the end of the week and we feel this should not be politicised,” he said.
Energy Minister, Kenneth Konga said the Government had decided to waive duty during the period of the shutdown of Indeni oil refinery.
The refinery was closed for maintenance on Thursday last week and will reopen during the first week of November.
Meanwhile, the shortage of petrol in Lusaka and other parts of the country has persisted with most filling stations being besieged by motorists.
[Times of Zambia]

Government has opened discussions with TOTAL to take over the company’s shares in Indeni.

This follows the decision by TOTAL to pull out of the country’s only oil refinery.

Mr MUMBA said the pull out of TOTAL from Indeni is not new because government was aware of the decision.

Mr MUMBA said TOTAL had stopped supplying crude to Indeni two years ago and informed government of its intention to sale the 50 per cent shares held in Indeni.

He, however, said the pull out of Total from Indeni has nothing to do with the current petrol shortage being experienced in the country.

Government and TOTAL both hold 50 percent shares in Indeni.

[ZNBC]