Petrol in Short Supply in Y’de
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| Many Gas Filling stations in Yaounde have gone for days without fuel |
A taxi driver pulls over at an MRS Corlay filling station in
Obili, Yaounde on February 4, only to find the pumps are dry. It is 1pm and
time for him to refill the car tank and hand over the taxi to the second driver
of the day. He curses in anger as he negotiates his way out of the station;
“don’t start a business when you cannot sustain it.” Behind him is another
citizen walking away in the opposite direction, looking frustrated with an
empty cylinder of cooking gas. Both citizens appear to think that this is the
only MRS station without fuel, as the one looking for cooking gas boards a
commercial motorbike for Melen where another MRS filling station is located.
Whereas sources at other branches of the company in Yaounde tell Cameroon
Tribune that all filling stations of the company are in the same situation.
“I’ll
not want to say the company is bankrupt because that is not the official reason
given by top management. We have been told there had been some mismanagement of
funds and that government owes the company a colossal sum of money. Due to the
financial crisis, SONARA has stopped supplying oil to MRS,” a source in one of
the branches told Cameroon Tribune February 5. Our source also said it has been
two years since fuel supply has been unstable and about two months the supply
of cooking gas and lubricants have been irregular. We also gathered most
employees of MRS have resigned while others are on technical leave. At Mvan,
another source that elected anonymity sounded rather positive. It said cooking
gas is unavailable at MRS stations because thousands of cylinders have been
taken back to the company for checks. Our source also claimed SONARA usually
halts supplies at the beginning or end of every year, triggering shortage of
fuel in companies that do not import oil and gas from other countries. As
regards lubricants, our source indicated that stations that lack them are
retailers under a specified supply chain who need to place orders and have them
delivered. We were also told eight stations in Yaounde that do not have
products are empty because the company is shutting them down to change the
retailers. Note however that all but one of the four pumps at the Regional
headquarters of the company were equally dry. SOCAEPE seems to be facing
similar difficulties as a number of the company’s station no longer exist.
Sources say it has sold some of its stations to other companies like that of
Nkoabang neighbourhood in Yaounde transformed into Neptune. Some of its
stations, like the one in the heart of the city of Yaounde, have been
abandoned. It is now used by street traders who display their goods thereon.
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