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We must overcome hikes in fuel prices
2008-05-10 10:46:21
By Editor
Rises in fuel prices in Tanzania went so mad months ago that there was a thunderous and widespread outcry inside and outside the National Assembly.
An uneasy calm followed - then the government intervened by announcing a modest cut, particularly in respect of kerosene.
It was argued, and very correctly so, that kerosene was of such fundamental importance to the majority of the country`s population that it would be calamitous for its price to be decided solely by market forces.
It was further argued that, if anything, the government should use all the resources at its disposal to make sure that under no circumstances would kerosene be too expensive for the bulk of the citizenry to afford.
Here we have a sound argument - and a pragmatic reaction by the government. But what is happening now?
As so prominently demonstrated in yesterday`s edition of this paper, fuel prices have hit the roof and are yearning for yet more of our people`s blood.
It is horrifying that the price of diesel, the fuel of choice in the transportation sub-sector, is now higher than that of petrol.
But what is even worse is that kerosene, whose price then Finance minister Zakia Meghji had sworn would be within manageable limits even for the poor, has since grown almost as expensive as these other fuel varieties.
It is reported on authority that the retail price of kerosene in Dar es Salaam was 950/- or thereabouts per litre a short two months ago but it now stands at an alarming 1,600/- or so.
There are also persistent reports of the item being in startlingly short supply in different parts of the country, with no one giving convincing explanation of the problem.
The lack of credible explanation has bred rumour upon rumour, with some people swearing that huge amounts of the fuel are systematically smuggled across our borders by smart criminals capitalising on our lack of vigilance.
It is baffling that there should be all this chaos in the importation, distribution and sale of fuel in the country, with the government issuing directives that some people ignore or act against with impunity.
Fuel dealers always swing into action with lightning speed whenever budgetary and other measures taken, say, by the government contain hints of impending commodity price hikes but move at a snail`s pace when the measures suggest that the opposite will apply.
One might say that`s part of the game called business. But does it mean that there is no one to come to the rescue of the poor consumer just because it is a free market economy - complete with the corruption and other criminal activities that go into making that game complete and secure?
The government knows, just as much as does the nation, that skyrocketing fuel prices spell a disaster of monstrous proportions. We must tame the tiger before it is too late.
Incidentally, how frugal are we as a nation in consuming petrol, diesel, kerosene and the like? The question counts.
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