Sudan’s Kordofan ‘running on empty’

Kadugli in South Kordofan is facing a severe fuel crisis along with electric power outages, while the fuel crisis in El Obeid in North Kordofan continues to bite.

Listeners told Radio Dabanga from the south Kordofan capital of Kadugli that the fuel shortage has seen long queues of vehicles and motorcycles that wait for many hours at filling stations. The situation has continued for at least a month.

The price of a litre of petrol at filling stations is SDG 35 ($5,22), but can be as high as SDG 50 ($7,50) on the black market. The city also has to deal with repeated power outages.

A lack for fuel is still crippling commercial transport in El Obeid, the capital of North Kordofan. The smaller Atos vehicles that usually ply the El Obeid–Delling route have also stopped.

A delay in delivery from Khartoum, and maintenance to El Obeid refinery are cited as the major causes.