Thousands of vehicles queue as fuel supplies run dry in Sudan’s Sennar

The fuel crisis gripping much of Sudan has become critical in Singa, capital of Sennar, where there is no fuel to be found at all anymore, even on the black market.

An employee told Radio Dabanga from Singa that all but one of the fuel pumps in the city have been closed for days for lack of fuel.

He said the crisis has caused a new rise in the prices of essential goods, this along with rise of the transportation.

Rental car drivers in Sennar told Radio Dabanga that yesterday the fuel crisis worsened in the city which led ten of the fuel pumps operating in Sennarto shut-down, while one pump remained working in the town and another in El Tagatu.

He said that yesterday the pumps have seen long queues amounting to about 1,000 vehicles per pump.

Queues

The driver said he had been standing throughout the day in the queue to get a small amount of fuel.

He explained that the security forces imposed strict measures in the granting of fuel, especially to the owners of lorries and tractors. Security services require these to obtain permits in advance from the authorities for limited quantities.

El Gezira

For two consecutive days, El Gezira state has experienced a severe fuel crisis where vehicles have queued in long lines in front of stations to get fuel, while the residents have complained of lack of transportation and high tariffs.

The owners of fuel stations have attributed the crisis to congestion of fuel lorries at El Jeili refinery in Khartoum.

Salah El Imam, the director general of the petroleum department in the state reported the arrival of 72,000 gallons of petrol and 24,000 gallons of diesel to the state on Wednesday morning.

He pointed out that there are ongoing arrangements for the provision of fuel.

Sudanese Workers Union

Yousif Ali Abdelkarim, the head of the Sudanese Workers Union, said that the worker's salary covers only 22.5 per cent of the cost of living.

He announced the continuation of the efforts of the Workers Union in coordination with the states in programmes to reduce the burden of living and provide the workers with the means of production to increase their income.

The lack of liquidity in the markets has forced a number of traders and suppliers to offer their goods from various consumer goods for sale at a loss – less than capital to seek funds to meet their financial obligations. They said that the lack of liquidity has led to decrease of many consumer goods.