/ 25 March 2001

ZIMBABWE GRINDS TO A SHUDDERING HALT

ZIMBABWES fuel shortages worsened this week as the country’s only rail company cancelled all its passenger services for a second day running, while captains of industry warned that companies were beginning to close shop. The fuel shortage has also affected the public transport system, with workers reporting late for work due to cancelled services. Private motorists are forced to spend hours in fuel queues. Courts have had to postpone a number of trials because there is no fuel for the vans used to ferry prisoners from jail, while undertakers have placed advertisements asking bereaved families to bear with them as they often fail to collect corpses from morgues on time for burial. – AFP