And this is from the Herald, staunchly pro-gummint...
THE National Oil Company of Zimbabwe (NOCZIM) has run dry, paralysing the public transport sector and almost all the Government and quasi-government departments’ operations. Court operations throughout the country have been affected with the Zimbabwe Prison Services failing to ferry remand prisoners to court. Farmers have also been affected with only 280 000 litres of the projected 150 million litres of diesel having been delivered for tillage nationwide as of yesterday. Even the army has not been spared either and some army vehicles have been seen refuelling at private service stations. Several other Government departments’ operations have been grounded and in some parts of the country, relatives of sick people referred to bigger institutions have been asked to fuel up Government ambulances for the sick to get help. In some places, Government ambulance fleets have been grounded for some time and police patrols in many areas, especially the communal areas, were now either by public transport, on bicycles or on foot.
"Patrol 58, 2-11 in progress at 4451 Mugabe Court!"
"Roger. ETA's is about three hours."
"Three hours?"
"There ain't another bus until then!" |
Worst-hit, however, is the public transport system that relies solely on Noczim fuel to remain viable and most buses, both rural and urban, have been grounded or abandoned at service stations. While initially the withdrawal of buses by operators pushing for a fare review by the Government affected commuters, the new transport crisis throughout the country is due to fuel shortages. "There is no fuel here, not a single drop although some is expected early next week," a source at Noczim said. This was, however, against a background of a statement by the Minister of Energy and Power Development Ambassador Amos Midzi that there is adequate fuel. |