WARNING: This is Version 1 of my old archive, so Photos will NOT work and many links will NOT work. But you can find articles by searching on the Titles. There is a lot of information in this archive. Use the SEARCH BAR at the top right. Prior to December 2012; I was a pro-Christian type of Conservative. I was unaware of the mass of Jewish lies in history, especially the lies regarding WW2 and Hitler. So in here you will find pro-Jewish and pro-Israel material. I was definitely WRONG about the Boeremag and Janusz Walus. They were for real.
Original Post Date: 2010-04-05 Time: 17:00:02 Posted By: News Poster
The sky-high fuel prices are wreaking havoc on the economy and paralysing ordinary Ugandans who are already battered by inflated prices of other essential commodities. We acknowledge that Uganda’s economy is liberalised and therefore the forces of supply and demand determine the prices of commodities and services.
However, even liberalised economies must have certain regulations and rules that govern the market without hurting the economy. The economy cannot be left in the hands of speculators who make a killing by hoarding goods.
The reasons the oil importers have given for the scarcity of fuel and high prices seem flimsy. As usual, they claim that international prices have gone up from $52 to $85 per barrel of crude oil. They also claim disruption in the Arabian Gulf where our fuel is imported from. The Minister of Energy and Mineral Development, Hilary Onek, does not seem to have a clue as to what has caused the shortage.
With or without disruptions, the government has a duty to ensure that its citizens enjoy basic things such as fuel at reasonable prices. They can achieve this by sticking to the regulations that govern the licensed fuel importers and dealers.
After the fuel shortage caused by Kenya’s post-election violence in 2008, a set of measures was drawn up to stem any future crises in Uganda. In October 2009, the Ministry of Energy released a draft Petroleum Supply (General) Regulations 2009, which is expected to strengthen the Petroleum Act of 2003.
According to this new set of regulations, petroleum dealers would have to offer “proof of ownership of storage facilities, rented or otherwise contracted by the applicant of sufficient installed capacity to maintain working stocks for a minimum of ten days of the anticipated average monthly output.”
The new regulations give government the right to revoke the licence of a supplier that does not meet these requirements. Under the same regulations, the oil companies were supposed to show their ‘Contingency and Emergency Petroleum Supply Plan.’
This would include elaborate alternative supply plans, allocation systems and formula to be applied where there is a shortage of petroleum products in case of an emergency. The plan also demands that a holder of a licence should have “at least two separate supply routes through two different countries bordering Uganda.”
Why have these measures never been invoked?
Original date published: 31 March 2010
Source: http://allafrica.com/stories/201004050352.html?viewall=1