MERU, Kenya, April 13 – Commuters in Meru County have been forced to dig deeper in their pockets, as motorists have increased transport charges due to the ongoing fuel shortage in the country.
The shortage which has now entered the second week has seen transport operators hike fares as some opt to close down business in the early hours of the evening, leaving passengers who commute late at night to look for other means of transport.
Joseph Kaberia, a taxi driver who operates along the Meru Nkubu route says that the ongoing fuel shortage has forced most drivers and motorists to minimize on operation cost since a lot of time is wasted while cueing along the petrol stations hence reducing hours of work.
“Unlike Boda Boda operators who can refuel with cans and jerrican for us taxi operators we have to drive to the filling stations and as per the current situation most of the stations are experiencing huge traffic, and by the time you get refilled you probably would have wasted close to an hour.” Laments Mr. Kaberia.
According to Mr. Kaberia, while some operators have grounded their vehicles, others restricted themselves to short-distance trips.
“The entire day yesterday I couldn’t go far from town because I am not sure I’ll get fuel,” he said.
He also goes ahead to say that most petrol stations have now limited the amount of fuel to a maximum of Sh 3000 in a bid to address and satisfy the growing demand of that commodity.
The motorists have also increased transport charges from Meru town to Nkubu from Sh 50 to Sh 100 in the rush hours of the evening in a bid to bridge the deficit created by hours lost while trying to refuel.
According to Charles Mwirigi, another taxi operator, it is always the consumer who bores the burden of high cost of living, saying that they need to make profit in order to be in business and if they are not cushioned by the government in times of crisis they have no choice but to pass the burden to the consumer.
“Because of the traffic snarl up, I’m finding that a lot of the fuel is consumed on the road even before I reach my destination and customers don’t want to pay more,” says Mr. Mwirigi
He adds that, “The fuel prices have gone up with a liter of diesel retailing at Sh 115. Yet again we are experiencing shortages together with the need to make profit; I think we have no choice but to increase the transport prices too,” said Mr. Mwirigi.
Last week on Friday a ship carrying 100 million litres of Petrol docked in the port of Mombasa even as the government tries to address the ongoing fuel shortage, with the cabinet secretary for Energy promising that more fuel was on the way coming , however most petrol stations in outskirts of Nairobi are yet to refill their tanks.
