Minister Fails To Respond on Fuel Crisis

By Shingirai Vambe.

Parliament – Minister of Energy and Power Development, Fortune Chasi was yesterday quizzed over fuel situation in the country to which he failed to give satisfactory response, Post On Sunday can report.

Dzivarasekwa legislator, Edwin Mushoriwa, asked the Minister to explain why the country’s blending cost is three times higher than the original price of fuel being imported before blending.

“I would like to ask the minister to give us the rational behind the fuel prices and blending as the situation is getting worse by day?”, asked Mushoriwa.

The Minister responded and said, it was due to foreign currency challenges and the reason why the country resorted to blend was to increase the volume of the commodity so that it can be available to many without limits.

“The price of fuel is calculated after a whole list of taxes and costs to get to the consumer and these include Zinara road levy, reserve facility, carbon tax, duty to mention just a few. And the recent upward review was due to the Tuesday auction which saw the rate going up against the US dollar,” said Chasi.

The Minister could not respond to why they continued to force people to consume the expensive blend whilst unblended could be availed at a much cheaper price of less than blended fuel when $0.40.

Chasi kept on arguing that blending was to increase the volume than to supply unblended fuel which may be less and it would result in the country losing a lot of forex in importing the commodity.

Mbizo legislator, Settlement Chikwinya asked a supplementary question on the logic behind the blending when it is expensive more than the unleaded, “why put all those costs on the consumer when it should be Government facility” subsidising an already expensive commodity is not making sense at all,” he said.

However the Minister failed to give members of parliament satisfactory responses and said the prices were determined by the USD local currency exchange rate.
“I cannot respond further” Chasi said.