GOVERNMENT has requested the Zimbabwean government not to close the Chirundu border at 18:00 hours and also instructed security wings to escort trucks entering from Nakonde to ensure timely delivery of fuel.

Energy and Water Development Permanent Secretary Peter Mumba said the Government, through the Ministry of Home Affairs, had engaged their counterparts in Zimbabwe not to close the border at 18:00 hours to allow the trucks to pass.

Mr Mumba said in an interview yesterday that fuel shortage would end because part of the consignment which had been imported had started arriving in the country.

Mr Mumba said a team of officers had been dispatched to Nakonde where some drivers transporting fuel from neighbouring Tanzania were allegedly found parked after being cleared on Saturday afternoon.

Mr Mumba said the ministry had also engaged the police to assist the drivers to ferry the commodity to alleviate the shortage.

He said after interrogating about five drivers who were found parked in Nakonde, only one gave a satisfactory answer that he was waiting for his passport to be cleared.

Mr Mumba said the country was expecting 1.4 million litres of petrol and two million litres of diesel to arrive in the country to address the fuel problem.

Mr Mumba said the situation would soon be a thing of the past as many trucks with fuel had been cleared at Nakonde Border Post on Saturday night.

Oil tankers, part of the 70 million litres imported by Government as emergency stocks to forestall a shortage have crossed the Nakonde Border Post.

By yesterday an on-the-spot check at the Tunduma frontier in Tanzania showed that asteadystream of trucks carrying diesel and petrol had been cleared and were on their way to Ndola.

Tanzanian Port authorities told the Timesthat they were under instructions tohastily clear the number of tankers carrying Zambian fuel as a matter of priority because of the shortage.

According to the Tanzanian sources, about 30 tankers laden with petrol and another 40 of diesel had in the past four days passed through the frontier enroute to Ndola for onward distribution.

More than 150 tankers have passed through the Nakonde border since October 1.

An undisclosed number of fuel tankers was also expected to come through the Chirundu Border Post by yesterday evening.

In Nakonde, just across the border from Tunduma, fuel had since run outfrom the only service station whileoperators talked to said theywere waiting for supplies from Ndola.

Meanwhile, the fuel shortage has persisted in Lusaka and spread to the Copperbelt and Southern province.

A survey conducted in Lusaka at various service stations yesterday found long queues while some service stations, which did not have the commodity, had sealed off the stations with only skeleton staff attending to customers.

And some motorists expressed frustration at the continued shortage of fuel and called on Government to quickly address the situation.

On the Copperbelt, a shortage of petrol has hit Chililabombwe, Chingola and

Kitwe with many motorists being forced to line up at filling stations to wait for the next consignment.

Some commuters were stranded in the morning as buses could not operate because they had run out of fuel.

Some filling stations had limited stocks which were reserved for account holders. Others had run out completely.

A check at Total Filling Station in the city centre, found long queues stretching to as long as 200 meters.

In Chingola, the fuel crisis equally persisted as traffic in the town was significantly reduced.

Chingola District Commissioner Toby Maliti said yesterday the crisis had continued.

His counterpart in Chililabombwe Timothy Musonda also confirmed the petrol problem in the district.

The situation was the same in Livingstone and Kabwe where only diesel was found at some filling stations.