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Uganda: Pump Attendants Selling Air to Motorists
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New Vision (Kampala)
10 May 2008
Posted to the web 12 May 2008
Elizabeth Namazzi
Kampala
With the soaring fuel prices, motorists want every drop of fuel they pay for. However, some fuel stations are not keen on giving it to them.
FUEL prices are rising, so every drop counts. And then in the midst of counting drops and coins, energy minister Daudi Migereko voices what almost every motorist in the country has suspected for a long time - that some fuel stations sell air.
It has happened to some motorists - you pay for fuel worth sh5,000, for instance, and receive fuel worth sh4,850.
To avoid being cheated, motorists have learnt to keep their eyes glued to the pump from start to finish.
However, as Migereko revealed in an interview, some pump attendants still manage to pump air into the fuel tanks.
This, in a country where fuel stations spring up like mushrooms, is not surprising. With every new fuel station - and most constructed right at the nose of an existing one - competition gets tighter.
ENTICEMENT
With over 500 fuel stations in the country, 26% of them in Kampala, fuel station managers have to devise means of attracting customers.
They use the only bait that is guaranteed to work - offer the same amount of fuel as the neighbouring station, but at a lower price. It's like dangling a live mouse before a cat. Regardless of the size of the mouse, the cat will come running.
Most motorists are aware of the danger of being cheated, but they still take the risk, driven by the need to spend as little as they possibly can on as much fuel they can get their hands on.
The problem is that sometimes you have no idea that you received less than you paid for until you run out of gas not long after. Dare you return to the offending station, the pump attendant will either deny serving you or insist that you were served the right amount of fuel.
FAULTY PUMPS
A close look at the pump that 'cheated' you will reveal that it is one of the many second-hand pumps that make it into the country. Because the buyer needed to cut costs, he/she probably purchased a partially broken down pump.
In such cases, the pump attendants know all its weaknesses and will manipulate it to suit their purpose. You've probably seen motorists being directed to a particular pump.
If you ask why you must be served at that pump, you will be told that there's no fuel in the other pump or that it is out of order, yet it's the one you are directed to that needs running away from.
Fuel stations on the outskirts of Kampala and those located in very busy centres are reportedly the worst at cheating motorists.
Such pumps will register an amount of fuel or start counting the litres before the fuel starts flowing.
TRUE OR FALSE?
Shell Managing Director, Ivan Kyayonka, however, says the company does not cheat its customers. "Certainly not," he replied when asked if it has ever happened at any Shell station. He promised that culprits would be punished if it happened.
But Dr. Terry Kahuma, the Executive Director of Uganda National Bureau of Standards (UNBS), agrees that some fuel stations pump air. "We have heard such complaints before although we have not heard any in the last six months."
Kahuma says: "We have a monitoring force that goes around fuel stations once a month to check their dispensers and see if they are up to standard." However, no culprits have been apprehended, despite the vigilance with which UNBS reacts to complaints.
In reaction to Migereko's allegations, Kahuma says: "It would have been good if the energy minister had named the fuel stations involved. We would have had somewhere to start from."
One way to curb the evil is to ensure that all the pumps that come into the country are of good quality and not easy to manipulate.
ELUSIVE SOLUTIONS
The problem, however, is that UNBS cannot effect this since, as Kahuma says, there's no law to follow. "It's not our responsibility to tell them which pump to buy and install at their fuel stations," Kahuma says.
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As a result, all types of pumps flow into the country. Among these are the electric pumps which, with our unending power cuts, are, according to Kahuma likely to cheat the motorist. "It's possible to get less fuel if power goes off," he says, although Kyayonka explains that "if electricity fails, the pump should stop and function again when the generator is turned on."
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