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Fuel crisis engulfs Zanzibar
2005-10-07 07:20:56
By Issa Yussuf, Zanzibar
It was shock for Zanzibar town motorists the last two days, as they could not use their vehicles due to severe fuel shortage.
A spot check on most pump stations found the dealers doing no business, as they had no fuel to sell. Commuters had to walk to and from work.
The crisis was additionally a bitter pill for most civil servants who complained, the government did not increase last month’s salaries as it had publicly promised.
The State Radio (STZ) quoted Omar Zubeir, an official of Zanzibar transport ministry yesterday saying transport crisis in Mombasa, Kenya was the primary cause of the fuel shortages in Zanzibar.
He said, however, GAPCO, and Zanzibar Petroleum companies, the main traders of gasoline, were finalising arrangements to transport fuel to Zanzibar.
He promised all would be well by today.
Although normally during the month of Ramadhan, prices of essential commodities used to hike some residents said the fuel shortage have contributed to astronomical price hikes for most products.
’Almost all commodities- rice, sugar, cooking oil, even direct farm products like cassava, potatoes and so on- the prices have been hiked,’ said Amina Abdalla, a mother of three children.
On the salary increase, several civil servants, who did not want to be identified, complained bitterly how they received September salaries short of the promised increment.
Zanzibar government announced about 25 per cent salary increase for civil servants during the close of the House of Representative.
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