The Botswana government has allayed fears of a protracted fuel crisis and called on motorists to avoid stockpiling the commodity while efforts are underway to stabilise the supply situation in the country.
The southern African country has experienced queues at service stations over the past week as the country ran short of fuel.
The problem worsened over the weekend, with long queues forming at most fuel service stations across the country.
The Ministry of Mineral Resources, Green Technology and Energy Security partly blamed the long queues to panic buying.
“Due to panic buying, some filling stations daily demand increased threefold,” permanent secretary in the ministry Mmetla Masire said on Monday.
He called on the public not to panic and to avoid stockpiling fuel “as this results in a supply/demand mismatch.”
“Purchasing of fuel using containers will not be allowed until the situation normalises,” Masire said.
He revealed that in order to normalise the current fuel supply situation, “the government has as of today authorized the release of strategic stocks into the market.”
“Currently, a number of fuel trucks and train wagons continue to arrive into the country through Namibia, South Africa and Mozambique but they have to observe COVID-19 protocols which is necessary,” the official said.
Truck drivers have to wait for their COVID-19 test results before they can be allowed into the country.
JN/APA