ANALYSIS
June 30, 2003
More than six months since a fuel supply deal collapsed, Libya
has once again come to the rescue of President Robert Mugabe by reviving a
barter agreement on oil with Zimbabwe.
"Experts from the two governments, including Zimbabwe Energy and Power
Development Minister (Amos Midzi), met to review the bilateral co-operation
path, and the ways to reinforce that cooperation in oil and investment in
various economic fields," a joint statement said without giving further
details.
Libya last year renewed a US $360 million fuel deal with
Zimbabwe in exchange for beef, tobacco and sugar but the supply line was cut
after Zimbabwe failed to meet its end of the bargain.
While the stopgap measure may temporarily alleviate fuel shortages, long-term
fuel security is by no means guaranteed.
Hardest hit by the fuel shortages are labourers, especially poor households in
Zimbabwe's high-density suburbs.
Chipo Chikosha is a single mother. Every day she gets up at 3:30 am and by 4 am
is on the road, walking a distance of 20 km from the suburb of Glen Norah in the
capital, Harare, to the city centre where she works as an office orderly at a
law firm.
"I cannot afford the fare of Zim $300 (US 37 cents) charged by the commuter
omnibuses," she told IRIN.
With a salary of Zim $50,000 (US $62) per month, Chipo pays her rent and buys
food. Despite a government regulation stipulating that passenger omnibuses may
only charge fares of between Zim $60 (US 7 cents) and Zim $300 (US 37 cents) for
urban routes, commuters in Harare and Bulawayo have to contend with fares
ranging from Zim $300 (US 37 cents) to Zim $1,000 (US $1.20).
The prohibitive fares have meant that highways from residential suburbs into
downtown Harare stream with bicycles and pedestrians walking to work every
morning and home again in the evenings.
Two years ago the government reduced the import duty and sales tax on bicycles
to encourage more people to cycle to work, as passenger vehicles were grounded
owing to the chronic shortage of fuel.
It now common to see trucks and tractors with trailers transporting people to
and from town.
The government has tried to ease the problem by introducing urban train
services. The train service, dubbed "Freedom Trains", charges
government-gazetted fares and was expected to cushion commuters from
unscrupulous bus owners who overcharge. However, passengers have raised concerns
over safety and complained of overcrowding.
An economist with the Zimbabwe Economic Society told IRIN the trains were being
run at a loss by the state-owned National Railways of Zimbabwe (NRZ).
"The scheme will put the NRZ into more debt," the economist said.
Zimbabwe needs around US $400 million to meet its fuel needs annually. Much of
this money used to come from agriculture, especially tobacco, which until 2000
was the country's main foreign currency earner.
Prior to 2000, tobacco raised over US $500 million in foreign currency annually.
Midway into the 2003 selling season, tobacco has brought in just slightly above
US $30 million.
Newly resettled farmers are yet to raise their production to pre-2000 levels.
Production on the "new farms" has also been stalled by shortages of
fuel and inputs.
The Zimbabwe Farmers Union, a body of mostly peasant and small-scale farmers,
recently made an appeal to the government to have fuel supplied to the new
farmers.
But while the majority of people have to do without transport, those who control
the hugely profitable parallel market in scarce goods and hard currency are
enjoying boom times.
A garage owner identified only as Chirasha told IRIN they sell hardly a quarter
of their allocations through the pump at the official price of Zim $450 (US 5
cents).
"We have customers who are prepared to buy in bulk at Zim $1,500 (US $1.80)
per litre," he said.
Chirasha added that after filling only a few cars, petrol attendants tell the
remaining customers the pumps are dry. The rest of the fuel is then piped out at
night to be stored and sold at unknown destinations.
Some fuel dealers are selling fuel in foreign currency at US 75 cents a litre.
Newspapers are awash with adverts saying "bulk fuel available".
A new scam involves towing clapped-out cars to fuel stations where they are
parked until fuel is available. Once the car has been filled, it is immediately
towed to a secluded spot and drained. The fuel, bought at Zim $450 (US 50 cents)
a litre, is then resold at $1,500 (US $1.80) to desperate motorists. The police
have begun monitoring the situation and a few arrests have been made.
Earlier this month the government introduced fuel coupons for commuter taxis and
omnibus operators. The move followed an announcement that the state is to ban
all vehicles from carrying petrol and diesel in containers, to prevent parallel
marketeering.
Energy Minister Amos Midzi said most commuter omnibuses were no longer plying
their routes. Instead, they were buying fuel at filling stations reserved for
them by government order and then re-selling it at profits of up to 500 percent.
In June motorists were banned from carrying fuel in containers, in a move to
stamp out illegal sales.
"If, for example, someone has a funeral, or is a farmer who needs diesel,
he has to apply to the ministry to be given permission to carry the fuel to his
farm, otherwise he will be arrested," said deputy energy minister Reuben
Marumahoko.
After several cases where conmen posing as undertakers had presented fake burial
documents to buy fuel, petrol attendants on occasion have demanded to see the
body in the hearse first, before pumping.