Floods: fuel shortages hit Pader, Kitgum

Sep 27, 2007

AN ACUTE shortage of fuel and other petroleum products has hit Kitgum and Pader districts following heavy rains and floods. All filling stations in the towns have been empty since Monday because the fuel deliveries could not be made due to the impassable roads.

By Dennis Ojwee

AN ACUTE shortage of fuel and other petroleum products has hit Kitgum and Pader districts following heavy rains and floods. All filling stations in the towns have been empty since Monday because the fuel deliveries could not be made due to the impassable roads.

The Kitgum resident district commissioner, Nahaman Ojwee, yesterday said most vehicles were parked for lack of fuel. He added that businesses had stalled and the price of many commodities had gone up.

“I don’t know what will happen in the next days if the situation continues like this. Some eating places and pubs are beginning to hike prices,” he said. “Public transport has scaled down to bicycles. Others travel by foot. We call upon the Central Government to improve on the route from Kitgum town via Apyeta to Gulu.”

Ojwee said the Aswa Bridge, which is located between Kitgum and Gulu, was still closed due to the high level of water measuring two meters above the bridge.
In Gulu, the cost of fuel remained at sh2,350 a liter but most stations registered a shortage of diesel.

Officials at Caltex, Total, Shell petrol stations said owners of fuel trucks feared to ply the roads to the north due to the floods.

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