Wau state authorities seize fuel trucks from smugglers

[Elisabeth Janaina]

Wau state authorities seize fuel trucks from smugglers

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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.

JPEG - 60.1 kb
A fuel truck detained by Wau muncipal council authorities, February
13, 2017 (ST)

The move, he said, was taken in the wake of an unusual rise in fuel
prices in the new state with a barrel of petrol costing SSP 50,000,
while a liter of petroleum shot to more than SSP 300 in recent days.

“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)