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By Vuyufambom Lauryne-Hill
Drivers, car owners, and bike owners in Bamenda as in the rest of the world are experiencing a high scarcity of fuel and gas. Since the start of the Ukraine/Russian war earlier this year, there has been a constant rise in the price of fuel and gas worldwide. This owes to the fact that Ukraine and Russia happened to be the highest producer of fuel and gas worldwide.
It all began with a hike in the prices of fuel/gas and now there is a scarcity of these products internationally. The Bamenda man like the rest of the world is suffering greatly and in many ways from this scarcity. Bike owners, Drivers, and car owners who used to buy a litter of gas for 560cfa and 600cfa at most are now subjected to buying this same litter for 1000cfa and that’s when they are even chanced to find the fuel.
Drivers can be seen driving from one fuel station to another all across town in search of fuel. Sometimes they are unsuccessful, other times, they are able to find fuel but are only able to buy at cutthroat prices. People are unable to get to their various job sites or appointments on time as a result of their gasless cars or bikes. Sometimes, they are forced to take commercial transport which has also become quite expensive because the commercial drivers and bike riders locally called “okada” buy fuel at high prices.
Car and bike owners are not the only ones experiencing this fuel crisis. People who board taxis and ‘okada’ have also been touched in a bad way. The transport fares they were used to paying before the shortage in fuel have gone up. You would always hear a taxi driver or bike rider talk about the shortage of fuel when a passenger complains about the high transport fare.
This fuel crisis has even affected the standards of living in households in Bamenda. Money that would have been allocated for other things like food or shelter has now gone to fuel acquisition, thus subjecting many households to a lower standard of living.
