By KETRA KALUNGA
THE Oil Marketing Companies (OMC) and dealers should adhere to the Energy Regulation Board (ERB) directive to curtail black market fuel activities because it defrauds the government of revenue, an energy expert has said.
Mr Johnstone Chikwanda said OMCs and dealers should ensure that fuel is only sold to motorists and customers with authorised containers to curtail the emerging fuel black market.
He said in an interview that black market fuel activities should be curtailed as soon as possible because fuel is not taxed once it goes on the black market making the government lose out.
He added that the black fuel business also destabilizes the market because it disadvantages legitimate traders as only illegal traders stand to benefit.
“Black market fuel activities defraud the state of revenue because they don’t pay tax when it goes on the black market and is also a safety hazard to legal traders and customers,” he said.
Mr. Chikwanda has urged Zambians to avoid buying fuel from illegal traders because the black fuel business has a history of compromising the quality of fuel which eventually leads to long-term damage to the engine of the motor vehicle.
He said any form of illegal fuel vending is illegal and should be condemned in the strongest terms because it promotes black market business which is by law illegal.
ERB has done a good job in terms of control and implementation of the safety standards to ensure that safety standards are adhered to, this is why we have not had any major instances in filling stations such as fire explosion so their directive must be followed,” he said.
