Rail traffic suspended, fuel shortage hits Brazzaville

The suspension of rail traffic serving Brazzaville, capital of the Republic of Congo (ROC), and at least two weeks of fuel shortages have caused food scarcities and disrupted travel for many of the city's one million residents. "According to several testimonies, food products such as cassava, peanuts, beans and potatoes are getting rare since the suspension," Dieudonne Moussala, the head of the Congolese Association for Consumers, said on Monday. "We fear that the situation might continue," he added. A government minister last week attributed the fuel shortage to damages at the national oil refinery in November 2005. Energy Minister Tatti-Loutard also said the shortage was due to "difficulties" the government was facing in getting supplies abroad. "Things will soon improve," he added. The Congolese Ocean Railway Company recently suspended traffic on its PK 493 line between Brazzaville and a locality known as Simon, following flooding when the River Djoue burst its banks during heavy rains. The flooded 10-km stretch of the rail line lies on the outskirts of Brazzaville. Traders in the city said they usually stocked food supplies like maize and peanuts for one to two weeks. "Now it is difficult because of the situation," Henriette Elion, a trader, said. Elion said she feared the current heavy rains could worsen the situation. Several localities along the railway line supply Brazzaville with foodstuff. The flooding along sections of the rail line is a recurring problem. The rail company has carried out several studies on the possibility of rerouting the rail lines around the flood-prone zones. It launched such efforts in the 1980s but work was suspended due to of lack of money, an official of the rail company said. Moreover, the suspension of rail traffic in the Pool region has also been provoked by insecurity caused by the so-called Ninja rebels once loyal to Frederic Bitsangou, alias Pasteur Ntoumi, who still roam the Pool region, a war-scarred district adjacent to Brazzaville. Besides the rail suspensions, the fuel shortages in the city has caused a sharp increase in petrol prices and disrupted long-distance passenger travel. Following the scarcity, owners of public transport vehicles have been paying informal vendors up to 1,000 francs CFA (US $2) per litre, up from the normal price of 400 francs CFA ($0.7). The vendors buy the fuel from local stations and resell it at profit, with the complicity of some service station agents. "It is hard for us to arrive early in the morning at the harbour where we usually buy our products," Jacqueline Ibara, a fish vendor at a local market, said. The fuel scarcity has forced buses to ply shorter routes and taxis to raise fares from an average of 700 francs ($1.3) to 1,000 francs ($2). Despite being sub-Sahara Africa's fourth largest oil producers, the Republic of Congo's three million people have mostly lived with shortages. Major local retailers of petrol - X-Oil, Total-Congo and Texaco - are unable to meet consumer demands, despite supplies they receive from the National Petroleum Company.