Fuel crisis deepens as trains cancelled

Zimbabwe's fuel shortages worsened this week as the country's only rail company on Thursday cancelled all its passenger services for a second day running, SAPA reported. "The fuel supply situation has deteriorated to very critical levels since the beginning of February," said the Confederation of Zimbabwe Industries (CZI), representing the country's industrialists. "The National Railways of Zimbabwe (NRZ) regrets to announce the cancellation of all passenger trains tonight," said a statement broadcast on state radio both on Wednesday and Thursday.

Apart from passenger trains, which carry up to 10,000 people a day, the NRZ has also grounded most of its cargo trains. Companies operating commuter and long distance buses have by and large been forced to park their fleets for lack of fuel. CZI said in a statement on Thursday that the shortage of fuel was beginning to a serious impact on manufacturing and transport operations.

"Most companies have a few days supply of fuel, and a few have run out of fuel and have had to shut down," CZI said. "If the supply of fuel does not improve within the next three to four days, more companies will have to shut down and many workers lose their jobs," it warned. Zimbabwe, which imports all its petroleum products, has been experiencing fuel shortages since December 1999 due to severe foreign currency scarcity.

The country is currently holding talks with an international fuel supplier, Independent Petroleum Group (IPG) of Kuwait, which had suspended supplies due to non-payment. IPG supplies the greater portion of Zimbabwe's fuel. Energy Minister Sydney Sekeramayi told parliament on Wednesday that IPG had agreed to start pumping in some fuel immediately while negotiations continued. On average Zimbabwe requires US $40-million a month in foreign currency for fuel imports.