Indeni is a liability – Milupi

By PETER SICHALI
GOVERNMENT should do away with Indeni Petroleum Refinery to help reduce fuel prices, Alliance for Democracy and Development president Charles Milupi has suggested.
Mr Milupi said the Indeni plant was outdated and that it was not a refinery but a mere separator of already refined fuel.
He said the fuel that comes into Zambia was already produced and mixed and only separated here.
Mr Milupi said the Indeni refinery had become a liability and therefore Government should import already separated fuel avoid unnecessary expenses.
He also advised Government to reduce fuel taxes to reduce pump prices.
Mr Milupi said fuel taxes were too high and had contributed to high prices of the commodity and the cost of doing business.
He said said any revision in fuel taxes should be downwards so that prices of fuel could help spur development even when the Kwacha was depreciating.
Mr Milupi said fuel was one of the drivers of economic development and therefore Government should find means of ensuring that prices were moderated.
Mr Milupi said ‘middlemen’ in fuel trade have contributed to high prices of the commodity in the country.