Government has postponed to next year March, the decision to surrender the fuel procurement obligation to the private sector, citing lack of legal framework to support the move.

And government says although Indeni will shut down on Friday to facilitate for maintenance, there will be no fuel shortages because the country has enough reserves.

In an interview with News Diggers! Energy Permanent Secretary Brig Gen Emeldah Chola said government has instead decided to extend the contract for current fuel suppliers to next year.

“It’s the process that has caused this. We have to put in place the legal framework, which hasn’t yet gone through. But the tender process has started. People have already started bidding for next year but we will still wait for the legal framework to be put in place,” Brig Gen Chola said.

“We still have those suppliers who have been supplying, they are continuing upto that period next year. We don’t want a situation where we have a gap. This has to be a smooth transition.”

She added that the country had enough stock for the transition period.

“The stock as at now is still very okay. As you may be aware that Indeni will be closing on the 15th for their annual maintenance, but we have built up the stock to ensure that we go through this period smoothly,” said Brig Gen Chola.

Listen to the audio on www.diggers.news

And News Diggers has learnt that the companies being considered to supply fuel upto next year March include Sahara, Dalbit, Delta and Worldwide.