With the festive season already in full swing and the current fuel crisis still far from over, government has failed to provide a convincing answer as to when the situation will normalize, with Information minister Monica Mutsvangwa only saying they are working flat out to ensure the availability of the precious liquid during the holidays.
Addressing the media today, Mutsvangwa could only say a lot of work is being put to make sure people have fuel to travel to their destinations.
“Everything is being done in order to make sure that we have enough fuel for the festive season, there is no stone being left un-turned to make sure that our people have fuel. Yes we have challenges as we continue to have queues but a lot of work is being put ,a lot of engagements between the RBZ (Reserve Bank Of Zimbabwe) and the ministry of energy as well as the ministry of finance are being put to make sure that our people have fuel to travel to their respective destinations,” said Mutsvagwa.
Despite Mutsvangwa’s tongue in cheek response, the situation on the ground speaks volumes of a potentially disastrous and dampened festive season due to fuel shortages.
The dire situation has resulted bus fares exponentially going up since the beginning of the fuel crisis and is likely to shoot again during this period due to high demand.
This has had a negative impact on the already struggling citizenry hard hit by the socio-economic challenges ranging from shortage of cash and basic commodities and rising inflation among others.
In its last cabinet update, the government had promised to deal with the erratic fuel shortages but to date, the situation seem to be worsening.
