Kenema City and its Environs had gone for almost two weeks without easy access to petroleum products and it is becoming very worrisome because there seems to be no signs of relief from fuel dealers within the city.
The Artificial scarcity of fuel almost every month and more especially during festive seasons is a regular tactic of dealers in the country for their selfish reasons like causing inflation, unnecessary queues at filling stations across the country, and also dragging the image of the current government into the mode.
Petroleum products are political commodities and they are in high demand, especially during a period like this.
AIMNet Newspaper got the views of indigenes of Kenema to know how they feel about the current fuel crisis in the District. Alhaji Konneh, a phone booth operator, whose means of survival is through charging of phones and other accessories, expressed his disappointment in the perpetual scarcity of fuel in the country which he described as a planned work from the dealers and the ‘Jebu’ sellers to cause unnecessary increase in the pump price of the commodity. He continued that, such an act undermines other developmental projects of the government and hence presents the ugly side of the sitting government.
Alhaji Konneh urged the Petroleum Regulatory Agency (PRA) for swift intervention to remedy the ugly situation because this is one of the most important periods of the year when the demand for the commodity is always very high.
A primary school teacher(name withheld), at the RC Boys Primary School in Go-For Dama Chiefdom, confirmed to this medium that the scarcity had seriously hindered his job. "I live in Kenema but I have to ride to work every day as a school head. We are currently writing to final examinations for the Christmas holidays. But since the start of this scarcity, I have not been able to go to work because of fuel shortages in the district and country by extension," he said.
A student of the Government Technical Institute(GTI) in Kenema highlighted the constraints they are faced with in getting to their various institutions of learning. "The city is very big now and some of us live in the neighboring communities around Kenema. The current fare from my home to my school has multiply the previous one and this has prevented me from attending classes for the past days. We as students of this country are calling on the stakeholders to step up to put this current fuel scarcity under control", she concluded.
However, the Petroleum Regulatory Agency had assured that enough stock is available in the country which would service the country throughout the festive season.
Commentaires