South Sudan capital, Juba has been hit by fuel shortage affecting business in the city
The price of diesel in Juba is six South Sudanese Pounds (6 SSP) per litre, while petrol is selling at 5.5 SSP. In some places 20 litres of diesel is sold at 180 SSP; that is nine SSP per litre. Most big businesses are not able to run their daily operations as they depend on generators they operate. The acting director of Global petrol station, David Garang, said the shortage has been cause by the recent increase in the exchange rate of the dollar. Currently, one dollar sells for more than three SSP. “We normally use the US dollar to purchase fuel from our neigbhouring countries, but the rise is seriously affecting our daily business. The fuel from Khartoum does not come as it used to,” Garang lamented. A source at the Juba teaching hospital, said that essential sections like the theatre are currently running on fuel reserves. Fuel shortage has also led to price increase of water being supplied by the water tankers in Juba. A drum which used to sell at 5 SSP has doubled to 10 SSP. Commuter taxis are becoming rare in the city as the fuel crisis continues to bite. “I normally travel for 5 SSP to my workplace but the rise in fuel price has made the boda-boda cyclist to increase the fare,” said Evelyne Juan. She appealed to the government to intervene and reduce the fuel prices, and also avail hard currency to the fuel dealers. Illegal money dealers have been blamed for the rise of the exchange rate. This prompted the Mayor of Juba to issue an order to evict them and leave the business to registered forex bureaus. It is ironical that South Sudan which is rich in oil runs short of fuel. The crisis began in May this year when the authorities in Sudan bocked the borders with the South. The Republic of South Sudan owns 70% of the oil fields of what was shared the two nations during the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA). -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "JFD info" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected]. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/jfdinfo?hl=en.
