A critical shortage of fuel has hit Chadiza district of Eastern province.
Chadiza District Commissioner Paul Phiri told ZANIS in a telephone interview that the district had completely run out of petrol while about 6000 litres of diesel which was available had a mixture of 170 litres of water.
Mr Phiri said government departments which deposited money at SCG, the only filling station in the district, were hardly hit as they could not procure the commodity anywhere else while private individuals were purchasing fuel from neighbouring Chipata and Katete districts.
“Some government departments paid in advance and were only drawing fuel with the use of coupons,” he said.
He said fuel shortages had continued to affect the district as the fuel storage tanker at SCG was too small to meet the demand for fuel in the district hence the shortage.
The District Commissioner however said the district was currently waiting for the filling station to pump out water from the diesel.
He lamented that there was completely no fuel in the district and that he was not sure when the situation will normalize.
ZANIS
