Motorists in Wau town of Western Bahr-el-Ghazal state have said they are frustrated by the inconsistent supply and rising prices of fuel in the town and its environs.
According to them, the price of fuel, in just a week, shot up to 750 SSP from 500 SSP per liter, and that this has led to an increment in transport fares and commodity prices in the town.
Most of the motorists, including Boda Boda riders, who lined up this morning at Transway Petroleum in Wau town told Radio Tamazuj that the fuel stations are closed despite having fuel in storage.
Martin Joseph Bol who was lining up to get fuel said, “I don’t know what is happening in South Sudan. There is fuel at the station and the price keeps increasing daily. Even if tankers are coming with fuel, the price still increases. It is supposed to increase if there is no fuel.”
A Boda Boda rider, John Makuac, said “The fuel issue has become a very big problem. There is no fuel in Wau and yet we only survive through the Boda Boda business to raise our children and everything. One bottle is now 2,000 SSP, while at the station you stand from the morning to sunset to get fuel. Why is it like this while our country is leading in oil production?”
The cause of the fuel scarcity and rising prices however remains unclear but the state trade union chairperson, Wol Charles, said that the fuel dealers want to increase the prices and that they alerted the unions five days ago to that effect.
Wol said the demands of the fuel dealers have been forwarded to the state authority to make a decision.
“The market is not stable and we cannot say there is an increment or decrease. There is no fuel and we are importing fuel from Juba. The price of fuel has gone high in Juba that is why the station managers here also brought to our attention their plan to increase fuel prices,” Wol said.
He said the fuel dealers requested that they increase the price per liter from 550 to 750 SSP and he thinks the fuel stations will be reopened once the request is accepted.
Ahmed Osman, the Transway Petroleum station manager in Wau said if they want to increase any price, they have to contact and inform the state authorities for approval.
“The shortage of fuel in Wau is because of the increase of the price in the world markets and as you heard yesterday in Juba on radios and social media, the price has gone high,” Osman said. “We have not yet increased the price. If we want to increase the price, we contact the state authorities, including the trade union, security, economic affairs, ministry of finance and then after that we increase.”
Last month, the South Sudan government announced that a petroleum refinery with a capacity of 100,000 barrels per day had commenced operations in Unity State.