By Omar Bah
The opposition Gambia Democratic Congress, GDC, has urged the National Assembly to immediately launch an investigation into the current impasse in the fuel sector to avert a national crisis.
On Wednesday, Oil Marketing Companies released a joint statement announcing they will cease operations on Monday 17 October.
But reacting to OMCs’ threat, the GDC leader in a statement shared with The Standard, said: “I call on the National Assembly to immediately open an investigation in the matter.”
The party urged the National Assembly to liaise with the Ministry of Finance and the fuel dealers to resolve the issue with immediate effect for the interest of the nation.
“We are with the strong conviction that high pump prices could only result in more hardship for Gambians especially drivers, dealers and the commuters,” the party said.
According to the party, fuel prices have gone down all over the world and nations have responded to this reduction earlier knowing the economic and social dislocation of businesses and movement of people, goods and services warranted their immediate actions.
“So, it is our belief that D77.89 and D73.00 per litre for petrol and diesel is still high compared to the pump prices of other countries in the sub-region. We want to know why the pump prices remain at D77.89. Why the D2 reduction instead of D9.94? And where is the D9.94 going?”
“We are made to understand that the dealers could not import fuel for October because their LCs are not cleared and in these trying times, it is likely the available fuel might run out at any time and put the country back in a restless state as Gambia National Petroleum Cooperation (GNPC) would not be able to meet the high demand of the public,” the party added.
