Diesel shortage bites hard
Apr 04, 2007
Industries start to feel the pinch of the fuel shortages as parts of Kampala will experience nightly power cuts and profiteers are charging up to 2,250 for a litre of petrol.
By Geresom Musamali and Sylvia Juuko
Industries start to feel the pinch of the fuel shortages as parts of Kampala will experience nightly power cuts and profiteers are charging up to 2,250 for a litre of petrol.
Industries start to feel the pinch of the fuel shortages as parts of Kampala will experience nightly power cuts and profiteers are charging up to 2,250 for a litre of petrol. Bugolobi, Industrial Area, Nakawa, Naguru and Kololo will experience power cuts every night due to the current diesel shortage, the electricity company Umeme has announced.
“At midnight we have to switch off the lines served by Aggreko diesel generator. Power will come back at around 6:00 to 6:30 in the morning,†said Robert Kisubi, communications manager of Umeme.
He said the measure would last until the diesel shortage had been addressed. Several industries will be affected by the new measure, which is in addition to the normal load-shedding schedule for April.
They include: Fish Packers, New Vision, Jinja Road Police Station, Metro, Nakawa trading centre, Spear Motors, Oscar Industries, Casements, unilever, Kyagalanyi, Nice House of Plastics, Caltex and Shell depots and Multiple Industries.
“It is pushing up our running cost because we have to use generators,†says Marius Prinsloo, general manager Shoprite.
â€It requires about 500 litres of diesel a night to run the generators for the printing machines,†said Rachel Namuli, production manager of New Vision. “We need to re-organise the team and do more work in a shorter period of time.â€
“We resort to generators whenever there is load-shedding,†said an official of Mukwano Industries. “Now we have fuel shortages, which are complicating matters.â€
Fuel shortages have also hit other parts. Pumps in Lira, Arua and Kabale have been dry this week, while reports from Gulu indicate a fluctuating supply since last week.
Fort Portal has also been badly hit. Shell Fort Portal has been without diesel for seven days, while Shell Kabarole has not had diesel and petrol since the beginning of this week. In Arua, profiteers commonly known as the OPEC boys were yesterday selling a litre of diesel at sh2,050 and a litre of petrol at sh2,250. Fuel prices in Arua are usually lower than Kampala because of cross-border smuggling with Congo and Sudan.
Prices in Kampala, too, soared as a result of the fuel crisis. The price of petrol rose from sh2,050 to sh2,070, while diesel went from sh1,840 to sh1,880 at several stations. Last month fuel prices had already increased from sh1,900 to sh2,050 for petrol and from sh1700 to sh1,840 for diesel. Kerosene increased from sh1,550 to sh1,600.
The Government has blamed the diesel shortage on the low capacity of the Kenyan pipeline. “The Kenyan pipeline is facing frequent shutdowns arising from power and other mechanical breakdowns,†the energy minister said on Tuesday.
Kyayonka said.Ivan Kyayonka, the country chairman of Shell said Uganda was cleared by Kenya to get fuel from Mombasa by truck.
Industries start to feel the pinch of the fuel shortages as parts of Kampala will experience nightly power cuts and profiteers are charging up to 2,250 for a litre of petrol.
Industries start to feel the pinch of the fuel shortages as parts of Kampala will experience nightly power cuts and profiteers are charging up to 2,250 for a litre of petrol. Bugolobi, Industrial Area, Nakawa, Naguru and Kololo will experience power cuts every night due to the current diesel shortage, the electricity company Umeme has announced.
“At midnight we have to switch off the lines served by Aggreko diesel generator. Power will come back at around 6:00 to 6:30 in the morning,†said Robert Kisubi, communications manager of Umeme.
He said the measure would last until the diesel shortage had been addressed. Several industries will be affected by the new measure, which is in addition to the normal load-shedding schedule for April.
They include: Fish Packers, New Vision, Jinja Road Police Station, Metro, Nakawa trading centre, Spear Motors, Oscar Industries, Casements, unilever, Kyagalanyi, Nice House of Plastics, Caltex and Shell depots and Multiple Industries.
“It is pushing up our running cost because we have to use generators,†says Marius Prinsloo, general manager Shoprite.
â€It requires about 500 litres of diesel a night to run the generators for the printing machines,†said Rachel Namuli, production manager of New Vision. “We need to re-organise the team and do more work in a shorter period of time.â€
“We resort to generators whenever there is load-shedding,†said an official of Mukwano Industries. “Now we have fuel shortages, which are complicating matters.â€
Fuel shortages have also hit other parts. Pumps in Lira, Arua and Kabale have been dry this week, while reports from Gulu indicate a fluctuating supply since last week.
Fort Portal has also been badly hit. Shell Fort Portal has been without diesel for seven days, while Shell Kabarole has not had diesel and petrol since the beginning of this week. In Arua, profiteers commonly known as the OPEC boys were yesterday selling a litre of diesel at sh2,050 and a litre of petrol at sh2,250. Fuel prices in Arua are usually lower than Kampala because of cross-border smuggling with Congo and Sudan.
Prices in Kampala, too, soared as a result of the fuel crisis. The price of petrol rose from sh2,050 to sh2,070, while diesel went from sh1,840 to sh1,880 at several stations. Last month fuel prices had already increased from sh1,900 to sh2,050 for petrol and from sh1700 to sh1,840 for diesel. Kerosene increased from sh1,550 to sh1,600.
The Government has blamed the diesel shortage on the low capacity of the Kenyan pipeline. “The Kenyan pipeline is facing frequent shutdowns arising from power and other mechanical breakdowns,†the energy minister said on Tuesday.
Kyayonka said.Ivan Kyayonka, the country chairman of Shell said Uganda was cleared by Kenya to get fuel from Mombasa by truck.