By: Haja Hawa Koroma
The Minister of Information and Communications, Mohamed Rahman Swarray has gone on a Provincial tour to the Northern Region to sensitive citizens about the issue of the increment in petroleum products, the Global Impact of the Fuel Prices on local pump prices in Sierra Leone and how the government of Sierra Leone is engaging with partners to tackle the problem of this rapid increase in petroleum product prices.
In his engagement with a set of community people at Makeni, the Minister stated that the government does not run the petroleum sector as this sector is handled by private sector stakeholders, therefore the government is not supposed to determine the prices of petroleum products. Yet, the rate at which the price increment is affecting its citizens, that’s why the government decided to step and intercede on behalf of its citizens.
He added that the government has therefore decided to play an active role in the petroleum sector as the government is in charge of ensuring that the oil marketers undertake foreign exchange because they can’t purchase oil products using the local currency.
The Government has given the sum of Eighty-Seven Million Dollars in Foreign Currency Support, for the Oil Marketing Companies to be able to purchase sufficient petroleum products for Sierra Leone.
“Government is intervening to help cushion the effect of the fuel challenge posed by the Russian invasion of Ukraine. The government has continued to provide foreign exchange for oil marketers to address their forex challenge.
So far, the amount has summed up to 87 Million Dollars in forex support. In subsidizing the sector, the government has spent up to Le380 Billion to help cushion the effect. Also, I know for sure that the government of President Bio has increased the country’s storage capacity to ensure enough availability of the products in the country” the Minister lamented.
Mr Swarray further stated that he has witnessed several long queues lined up at Gas stations all over the country in recent weeks because the Oil Marketing Companies held back their sales as they demanded an increase in prices, so they can break even and be able to make profits.
The minister outlined the intense negotiations that the government is ongoing with OMCs to see how best they can remedy the situation.
He also made mentioned the uncertainty in the global supply of petroleum products which is a result of the ongoing war between Ukraine and Russia and that has placed pressure on the Oil Marketing Industry as a lot of Countries highly depend on Russia for petroleum products.
Notwithstanding this pressure, the Minister encourages all citizens that the government is working around the clock to address these challenges and there is hope that the government would be able to stabilize the situation soon.
