Thousands of Zimbabwean commuters were on Tuesday stranded throughout the country as fuel shortages reached crisis proportions, state media reported. People in Harare are spending up to four days looking for buses to take them to rural villages ahead of a public holiday next week, ZBC radio said.
Major highways leading out of Harare are teeming with people seeking any form of transport to the rural areas, the report said. People are stranded and becoming desperate.
Bus operators countrywide have been accused of suspending services in protest over cuts in fares ordered by the government.
An official with the Rural Bus Operators Association told state television that the problem was a lack of fuel. He said operators were being allocated 500 litres per bus per week, enough for just one and a half days service.
On June 26 the authorities ordered prices on all goods and services — including fuel — to be reduced by at least 50% in a bid to reduce inflation and halt spiralling prices.
Fuel is now mainly available on the black market for around Z$300 000 per litre — five times the official rate.
Private urban transport companies have also either scaled back operations, or withdrawn their vehicles from key routes. They say they cannot run at a loss.
Desperate office and factory workers have to hitch lifts on the back of trucks, or walk.
The Herald mouthpiece admitted on Tuesday that since the imposition of price controls, the state-run oil company has only been importing 1,5-million litres of fuel a day, compared to a national demand of around 6,5-million litres. – Sapa-DPA