By Arret Jatta
The recent surge in fuel prices in The Gambia continues to significantly impact commercial drivers in their daily operations.
In May last year, the Ministry of Information announced a reduction in pump prices, bringing petrol down from D74.00 per liter to D73.00 and gas oil down to D70.50 per liter, with a D2.00 decrease in pump prices.
However, in 2024, fuel prices have skyrocketed, with gas oil now at D80.94 per liter and petrol at D81.94 per liter, leaving only a dalasi difference between the two.
These escalating prices have created numerous challenges for commercial drivers, who express frustrations about their daily struggles.
Ismaila Jeng, a van driver at the Brikama garage, lamented that the increase of fuel prices has drastically made driving more difficult.
He also made comparison of fuel prices before and now.
“Compared to before, fuel per liter was 70 but now it is up to 80 plus. Some of our passengers may not understand the reason why we increase fares, they think we increase it by ourselves but that’s not the case. The high cost of fuel leads to the increase of transport fares,” he stressed.
Mr Jeng urged the government to do something about the price of fuel as it is really affecting their earnings.
Hagie Wally, another commercial driver who has been a driver for over six years, also lamented that he cannot afford a house after driving for all these years.
“I have been driving for more than six years now, but I still can’t build my own compound,” he said.
He also stressed that the high price of fuel is not favorable to the driver.
“Imagine after buying fuel, sometimes drivers are left with nothing to go home to their car owners. And this is different from repair cost of vehicles anytime the need arises. It’s just hard to cope with,” he highlighted.
Bubacarr Bah, a taxi driver also narrated how the high price of fuel affects him.
“We the taxi drivers sometimes go home with nothing after buying fuel. Imagine small taxi cars only carry 4 passengers and the fare is less than D20. Imagine if the price of fuel is D80, after working for the whole day you end up buying fuel with all the money you’ve worked for, so what is the profit there for us?” he said.
“We need to get profit because no one wants to work without making any money. Mr President, please help us reduce the fuel price and other commodities,” he cries out.
Momodou Bah, also a taxi driver, pointed out that most of their passengers don’t agree to pay the complete transport fare which is D13.
“Some passengers, instead of paying D13 which is the actual fare, they will just give the driver D10, and sometimes we try to understand them because the country is hard, but it is hard on everyone including us the drivers and most of us are family men,” he explained.
“I believe if the government wants to help the people, it should not only reduce the price of fuel but the price of all commodities because literally everything is costly in this country,” Bah further said.
