South Sudan’s national government has taken measures toward introducing price controls for petrol, launching investigations into fuel stations it says are charging consumers too much.
Cabinet Affairs Minister Martin Elia Lomuro said managers of petrol stations have been given seven days to produce documents verifying their operations in the country.
“We have directed that they hand all their documents — licenses, tax certificates and all the relevant documents — so that each company will have a file with us,” he told Radio Miraya.
Lomuro, speaking after meeting with representatives of 53 out of the 180 registered petrol stations, said the screening is to ensure all stations are operating legally and also to devise ways of making sure fuel is available at all times. The minister said they will meet with Nile Petroleum Cooperation (NILEPET) and petrol companies to design a price control system.
He said the controls will especially target petrol stations that receive Letters of Credit from the government which supplies them with dollars, and that petrol stations should only charge extra to the consumers to cover the transport of fuel from Juba to other states.
NILEPET Managing Director Paul Adong said fuel shortages will continue as long as there are no oil refineries in the country.
“The notion that lack of dollars is the problem I will always say no, because it takes time to get fuel from Kenya to South Sudan,” he told Radio Miraya.
“We are going to have this crisis coming back and forth until we as a country producing oil are able to have our oil refinery for petrol and diesel,” he added.
“People should also be reminded that the problem we have is only diesel, not petrol. We have plenty of petrol in the market. We are distributing tens of thousands of liters of diesel to all the petrol stations in Juba and our understanding is if we do this by tomorrow we should ease the diesel.”
Line for petrol in Nyala (file)
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War Economy: special series about the effects of civil war on South Sudan’s economic situation