Bulawayo at a standstill as fuel dries up

By Tererai Karimakwenda
21 September 2005

The Mayor of Bulawayo, Japhet Ndabeni Ncube, is considering asking the government for permission to purchase fuel on the black market because all of the city’s petrol stations have dried up and essential services are at a standstill. The fuel shortage is so critical that only a few ambulances are on the road but there is no refuse collection or critical water deliveries.

Mayor Ndabeni-Ncube told us Wednesday that the minister of local government Ignatius Chombo is aware of the situation and the governor has also been appraised. If they allowed him to buy fuel from the informal sector for strategic services only, the situation might improve slightly. The mayor said the black market is flooded with petrol supplies and he does not why the stations do not have any.

Many residents in Bulawayo have been relying on water from bowsers that make daily deliveries to their areas. Without fuel the bowsers are grounded and residents are having to walk to the many boreholes in the city everyday to collect water. The mayor said the engineers have been monitoring water pressure and load shedding in the same way they do with electricity. This has brought more water to the Magwegwe Reservoir.
Bulawayo is typical of the situation around the country. As we reported on Monday, the government admitted last week that the fuel situation has reached dangerous levels. It is so bad in Harare that there is just enough petrol to keep only one fire engine running. Ambulances are seen queuing outside dry petrol stations. We have reports from Gwanda as well that service delivery has seized up due to shortages.