MONROVIA – The Ministry of Commerce on Monday announced new increased prices of petroleum products following days of hoarding by vendors which led to an unofficial hike in prices and scarcity of the products on the market.
The Liberian government over the weekend denounced the shortage of the products, noting that there is more than adequate supply of petroleum products to supply the country for several months.
The government, through the Ministry of Information, however, announced that the prices of gasoline and diesel fuel have increased globally due to the ongoing war between Russia and Ukraine.
The New Prices
The Ministry of Commerce and the Liberia Petroleum Refinery Company (LPRC) announced an increment of US$1.16 on gasoline while diesel fuel has been increased by US$1.47. This means, the retail price of gasoline is now US$5.66 (L$875) while diesel fuel is US$6.00 (L$930).
But these prices are not going down well with most commercial motorists.
Solomon Manobah, 42, is a commercial motorcyclist, father of three children and a wife, depends on commercial bike riding at the Samukai Town junction in the township of Caldwell, outside Monrovia.
Speaking in an exclusive interview with FrontPageAfrica over the weekend, Manobah explained that the “shock” increase in the price of gasoline is imposing more hardship on him and his family members.
He expressed the fear that ahead of the commencement of the second semester for academic year 2021/2022, his children would not be in school, if the current situation of gasoline shortage persists.
He observed that earning money from fares being charged passengers has drastically reduced because, most passengers now prefer trekking than spending nearly twice the previous fares that were charged them to go to and move their respective destinations.
“We woke up this morning and went to the filling station, but we were surprised for them to say L$1000 for gallon. We are stay buying it because, we can’t allow our bike to be parked. When the bike is parked, the children and I, who standing here will not eat too. Since this morning, I have not even make L$500, only L$200 in my bag now. Before gas price could go up, I have made around L$1500 by this time”.
Passengers complaining
Most often, drivers of commercial motorcycles, tricycles and vehicles engaged into the exchange of words, invectives and sometimes engage into fistfight over unstable transportation fares being charged across Monrovia and other parts of Liberia.
The setting and subsequent enforcement of transportation fares by the Government of Liberia (GOL), through its relevant ministries and agencies has been an aged-old problem in post-conflict Liberia.
At times, cosmetic joint statement is issued by the Ministries of Transport, and Commerce detailing transportation fares to and from various destinations, but nothing has been done by authorities of these entities to ensure that drivers and riders adhere to the fares issued.
Manobah indicated that the current situation is causing confusion between commercial motorcyclists and some passengers.
“The passengers are getting angry with us; but when I explain the situation to them, some of them can understand, but some of them cannot understand at all. The distance I used to take for L$100 and if I tell a passenger ‘because of the situation that I am going through, I am taking the L$100 distance for L$150. Some of them can ask, what the problem is and we can tell them”.
More Expensive Here
Despite the increment in the price of petroleum products on the international scene, Liberia seems to the country in the region with one of the highest costs of gasoline and fuel. The cost of gasoline in the country is now higher than the daily minimum wage for unskilled laborers which stands at US$5.50 per day and US$3.60 per day for domestic laborers.
While a gallon of gasoline is being sold for US$5.66 and diesel at US$6.00, both products are sold for US$4.12 in neighboring Sierra Leone. In Guinea, a gallon of gasoline is sold for US$4.23. In Ghana, it’s US$4.50. Ivory Coast now sells a gallon of gasoline for US$4.11.
Meanwhile, the opposition Unity Party says it is taken aback by the astronomical increment in the prices of petroleum products as announced by the Government of Liberia.
According to the Party, it strongly believes that the Weah-led government can circumvent the shock on the economy despite the ongoing Russia-Ukraine crisis. The Unity Party noted that the CDC government is using the situation to exploit Liberians.
“Liberian consumers have been faced with soaring food prices and transportation fares since the inception of the CDC government. To compound this, salaries were dramatically reduced for many while a few saw minimum increase through an unpopular harmonization scheme. Available data show that about 65% of our population live below the poverty line while approximately 1.4 million Liberians are living in abject poverty with an estimated 500,000 -600,000 at higher risk of falling below the poverty line,” the Unity Party indicated in a statement.
The former governing party called on the Weah-led government to absorb the economic shock being caused by the war to providing subsidies or lowering the tariff on political commodities.
“For example, the government currently levies: U$0.30 per gallon for Road Fund, U$0.20 per gallon for GST, U$0.25 per gallon for Import Duty, U$0.30 per gallon for LPRC storage, U$0.15 per gallon for Excise and 1.5% of the Cost, Insurance and Freight (CIF) value as Custom User fees, excluding Port charges. During this period of crisis, one would hope that the government would make a temporary reduction in these charges so as to reduce the transfer of burden on its citizens. Additionally, this is the time when prudent AUSTERITY measures and fiscal discipline should be championed by the president; perhaps this is where reallocation of funds from the “Special Presidential Projects” should go to subsidizing the global increment in petroleum products,” the Unity Party stated.
