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MP: LEADERS WITH SHARES IN OIL COMPANIES...
2009-01-07 12:08:48
By Angel Navuri and Correspondent Gadiosa Lamtey
A Cross section of Members of Parliament have expressed grave concern over the cartel of oil dealers who for the second day running yesterday defied the government order to lower pump prices in line with the Energy and Water Utilities Authority (Ewura) indicative and cap prices.
An MP said oil dealers had guts to defy the order because they colluded with government officials who held shares in big oil companies operating in the country.
The law-makers were giving their views in separate interviews with `The Guardian`.
Oil companies hiked pump prices of petroleum products during Yearend festivities, compelling the government, through Ewura, to intervene and set lower fuel prices.
The Busega legislator, Dr Raphael Chegeni said that oil dealers were being stubborn because some government officials were part of the problem.
``The oil dealers can`t be stubborn for nothing. That`s why they have the guts to refuse lowering the fuel prices because some government officials have shares in oil companies,`` said Dr Chegeni.
He said that the government should not deal with the pricing issue only, but also finance the Tanzania Petroleum Development Corporation (TPDC) to enable it purchase oil and distribute it to the dealers.
``The only way out is to finance TPDC because once dealers buy oil in this way, the government would be able to control the oil prices,`` he said.
He said if the government used sheer force, oil companies would simply choose to close down their stations.
If the oil dealers cannot do what the government wants, they would rather close down their filling stations, the way others have already started.
The government should seriously deliberate on this matter,`` he said .
Kigoma-north law-maker Zitto Kabwe said that Ewura should handle the matter carefully and find out why the oil dealers had defied the order and maintained their stance of charging high prices.
He said that other oil dealers might have purchased the oil at high price in a way that was hard for them to lower prices simply because of a government warning.
``The government should handle this matter seriously. Dealers found guilty of lying should not be given licences,``said Kabwe.
Lucas Selelii, Nzega Member of Parliament, said that the government has not been making a serious follow-up on oil dealers, including their stock levels, savings and profit.
``The oil dealers cannot reduce the oil prices because they know the government doesn’t have sufficient data to compel them to lower the prices because it has never been serious,`` said Selelii.
He said that serious follow-up would have given the government enough power to compel the oil dealers to reduce the prices.
Hamad Rashid, leader of the opposition in Parliament said: ``Our government drags its feet when it comes in tackling issues that have directly concern ordinary people.``
He added that the government was not serious in dealing with the oil crisis because it has lost the required trust, especially with the failure of TPDC to regulate the oil industry.
A Dar es Salaam resident Hamis Chegele, who telephoned `The Guardian` on yesterday, alleged that the government was hiding the truth to the public that ``it is impossible for oil dealers to ignore the warning.``
``Since last year, the oil dealers have been singing a song of clearing old stock. What’s that old stock that is still being sold up to now?
The Tanzania Revenue Authority is the one that knows how many litres the oil dealers do import, so they should be held responsible,`` he said.
He said that it was so strange that the oil companies were working under government supervision, yet they couldn`t obey its orders.
Chegele calls upon the government to allow TPDC to continue importing petroleum products on its behalf.
A thorough survey carried out on Monday revealed that many filling stations still charged high prices, meaning that they did not comply with the Ewura order, and yesterday some of them remained closed.
Stations which stopped services in Dar es Salaam include the Morocco Total filling station and Gapco station at Victoria.
For instance, some Oilcom and Total filling stations in Dar es Salaam were still charging high prices compared to Ewura indicative and cap prices, 1,600/- for petrol and 1,450/- for diesel, while the set price for petrol is around 1,300/- and diesel 1,200/-.
A similar experience was recorded in Kilimanjaro, Arusha, Mwanza and Iringa, among up-country regions, where pump prices on display were still high.
In Mwanza’s Gapco filling station petrol was sold at 1,500/- and diesel at 1,580/- while at the BP, petrol was 1,560/- and diesel 1,610/-. Indicative and cap prices announced by Ewura for Mwanza are 1,375/- for petrol and 1,480/- for diesel.
In Iringa, the survey revealed that various filling stations were still selling their petroleum products at old pump prices.
In Moshi, Kilimanjaro oil prices were still high. At Gapco filling station, one of the supervisors, Mulah Omary said the government should have made a thorough study before interfering the market.
SOURCE: Guardian