Wau state authorities seize fuel trucks from smugglers
February 13, 2017 (WAU) – The mayor of Wau municipal council, Mel Aleu Goc said four fuel trucks linked to smuggling were seized by state authorities.
“We recently detected the rise in fuel prices in Wau town to the extent that the price of petrol per barrel reached 50,000 SSP and a 1.5 bottle of patrol reached 300. In this situation, we launched a search operation for fuel within the town and found that traders had stored big fuel in different stores and sold it at a high profit gain in the black markets and exported fuel in a different system,” said Mel.
According to the mayor, another truck was detained in the eastern bank, and was due to be brought to a fueling station for uploading.
“What we need especially from the fuel dealers is to sell their fuel through fuel stations. Now I have formed a committee to review the fuel price and agree with trade union and sell this fuel through fuel station and selling it in the battles and in the black markets,” said Mel, who advised people to use the various fuel stations.
The mayor, however, said a committee has been formed to oversee the proper sale of fuel that would be taken to various fuel stations.
Any fuel found stored and sold on high profit is supposed to be seized and sold through legal process in the market by authorities.
Last week, the South Sudanese finance minister, Stephen Dhieu Dau, said fuel subsidies would be scraped after the country’s lawmakers approved his request.
The price of fuel, currently fixed at SSP22 or about 20 U.S cents a litre, will be determined by market forces of demand and supply. In the black market, for instance, a litre of fuel cost SSP100, a price expected in the aftermath of lifting subsidies.
Economic experts say fuel subsidies cost the government United $40 monthly. A liter of diesel or petrol is purchased at about $1 from East African countries and sold at 20% of the actual market price in Juba by state-owned NilePet company.
(ST)