By Makutu Manneh
Fuel prices have kept on rising and falling since the beginning of the year 2019.
On the 1st of this month of October, the price of petrol went down from D52.81 to D52.06 and diesel rose from D52.38 to D53.38.
For 10 months now this year, fuel prices have remained unstable. The year 2019 saw the price of fuel increase on five different occasions whilst decreasing twice only.
Some commercial drivers who seem to be most concerned, were contacted by reporters of this medium about the recent fuel price changes that usually takes by surprise, because of lack of communication from Government.
The drivers spoken to bitterly lament their frustration and surprise on the fuel price fluctuations; that this always has great negative bearing on their earnings because the price increase in fuel does not commensurate with the transport fares they collect from customers.
One of the commercial drivers said Government has never thought of the average people when making decisions.
Drivers also pointed out traffic jams as the biggest cause of their problems when it comes to fuel consumption; that all the fuel they buy is consumed as a result of time spent on the way due to traffic jams before they reach their destinations, not forgetting the poor conditions of the roads which also lead to damage of vehicle parts.
Foroyaa will continue to talk to officials of the Ministry of Petroleum to discuss the issue of fuel price hikes and falls as previous attempts proved futile. This reporter in particular made several attempts, but was always told that the Minister is busy and cannot be given access to the Permanent Secretary or the Public Relations Officer (PRO) of the Ministry.
