Malawi’s energy regulator has allayed fears of a major fuel shortage, assuring motorists on Thursday that the country has more than enough stocks of petrol and diesel and that current stockouts at some filling stations are due to an ongoing truck drivers’ strike.
Filling stations across the country have run out of fuel, with long queues witnessed over the past few days at the limited number of outlets that had the commodity in the major cities of Lilongwe and Blantyre.
In a move aimed at avoiding panic buying, the Malawi Energy Regulatory Authority (MERA) assured motorists that there are sufficient fuel stocks in the country, with a total of 22 million and 32 million litres of petrol and diesel available, respectively.
“These volumes translate into 28-days stock cover and 54-days stock cover for petrol and diesel, respectively,” the regulator said.
It said it was making every effort to address the fuel stockouts experienced at most retail stations that have been caused by a strike by truck drivers.
Truck drivers parked their vehicles this week, demanding a salary increment.
JN/APA