Parliament summons oil, electricity ministers over ongoing crises

The committee for energy and mining in the Sudanese parliament announced that it will summon the ministers of oil and electricity over the fuel crisis and power outages that have continued unabated for months.

Minister of Oil and Gas Azhari Abdelgadir and Minister of Electricity and Water Resources Motaz Musa were summoned by the parliamentary committee on Wednesday to answer for the fuel crisis and the reasons for power cuts in many Sudanese cities and towns.

Meanwhile the head of the Industry, Trade, and Investment Committee in the parliament, Abdallah Ali Masar, has attributed the bread crisis in Khartoum state and the growing queues in front of bakeries to the irregular power supply. Power cuts in a number of districts, as well as the return of diesel shortages caused by the fuel crisis, have made life challenging for people.

The effects of the power outages on the production of bread in Khartoum have been confirmed by the bakeries’ union secretary-general Badreldin El Jalal. “The frequent interruption of power has led to the disruption of work of several mills. They have shrunk to 60 per cent of the total capacity, causing the current bread shortages.”

El Jalal demanded that the quantities of diesel that are provided to the milling companies will meet the current gap.

Last week the Ministry of Oil and Gas has announced the allocation of special quotas of fuel for companies operating in the field of minerals amid the chronic fuel shortage in Sudan. The official Sudan News Agency (SUNA) reported that the ministry called on all mining companies to coordinate with the supply department of the Sudanese Oil Corporation to receive their share of fuel.

In 2017, various parts of Sudan witnessed a shortage of fuel for several periods of time. In early this year however, the fuel crisis grew and paralysed transport, farming, and industries in the entire country.