Transporters strike over fuel price rises

The Burundi transporters’ organisation, Atrabu, has responded to a government hike in petrol prices by calling a transport strike for Thursday and Friday. Atrabu, which went ahead with the strike in Bujumbura on Thursday, demanded negotiations with the government to establish new fares that would not bring about losses for transporters, to guarantee fuel supplies, and to establish a fuel committee, the BBC’s Kirundi service reported. The increases announced by Commerce Minister Gervais Nkanagu brought the cost of super grade petrol to 570 Burundi francs a litre, diesel to 520 francs a litre and kerosene to 450 francs a litre.

The transport strike was “very painful to the public” in Bujumbura on Thursday, with employees having to walk long distances to work, a resident told IRIN. To make matters worse, even those with cars had no fuel and the price of taxis had risen to between 1,500 and 3,500 francs, she said. Civil servants were particularly unhappy, and there were rumbling threats of industrial unrest if the fuel price rise was not offset by salary increases.