More Hoarding, More Shortage

In this modern technological world, fuel is the blood of every country; just as a human being cannot live without blood, a country cannot survive without fuel. Therefore, the scarcity of such commodity threatens the life of any nation.

Fuel shortage in Sierra Leone has a long history that can be traced as far back as the days of Siaka Steven when long fuel queues were rampant in the country,

And this trend of fuel shortage and its consequent long fuel queues have been appearing intermittently till this day.

Successive governments in Sierra Leone have never been able to find a lasting solution to the spasmodic fuel crises some of which, we have observed, are not natural, but artificially created by hoarders to maximize profit. And we should not neglect the fact that the illegal or JEBU sale of fuel pampers hoarding which often results in fuel crisis which the illegal dealers effectively use to economically exploit the people.

Our investigation is that the illegal dealers use tactical means to purchase large quantities of fuel from the legitimate fuel stations and hoard the fuel, thereby creating artificial scarcity in the midst of which they begin to illegally sell the hoarded fuel at astronomical costs. And whenever the price of fuel rises, transport fare rises and, consequently the prices of almost all other commodities soar. In this country, the price of fuel is contagious; it affects the prices of all other commodities, thereby affecting the whole nation.

Until government decides to stand firm a put a full stop to the illicit or JEBU sale of fuel, the long petrol queues will continue to appear. There is also the need for government to be giving more assistance to dealers by way of more subsidies to help them keep the fuel price stable in the case of scarcity.

Government does not need to be reminded that fuel is a highly political commodity that borders on the popularity of any government apart from being the blood of modern technological states. Hence our government must try to move Heaven and Earth to put a permanent end to the sporadic fuel shortages and their attendant long fuel queues.

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