Fuel crisis: in Kirundo, travelers lament the lack of transport buses

The prolonged fuel crisis affects passengers and transporters in the Kirundo province in northern Burundi. Cimmuters complain of missing transport buses while transporters say they are working at a loss.

INFO SOS Médias Burundi

On September 13, the Ministry of the Interior recalled the new transport ticket prices.
This was not well received by the transport companies. They temporarily stopped work to demonstrate their discontent.

“We are working at a loss, but we are threatened by authorities with warnings to close and suffer exemplary sanctions”, some bosses of public transport companies told us.

In a press release from the Ministry of the Interior, it is specified that the price of the transport ticket on the Bujumbura-Kirundo route must not exceed 16,500 Burundian francs. A price that transport companies consider small since the fuel crisis.

“The price of fuel on the black market is 15,000 francs per liter while the official price is 4,000 francs. The government knows very well who we get our fuel from on the black market. The government sets fuel prices when it doesn’t have any,” adds the owner of a public transport company.

Passengers are upset

Passengers with their luggage in a parking lot in Kirundo, waiting in vain for a bus to go to the commercial city of Bujumbura (SOS Media Burundi)

“We are being abandoned by our government. What does it think of us, the little people? Politicians are walking all over our lives. Let them pull themselves together, otherwise change is more than necessary,” said a resident of the capital of Kirundo who spoke to SOS Médias Burundi on condition of anonymity, for fear of reprisals from the administrative authorities.

It should be noted that until now, diesel fuel has not been found at all the service stations in Kirundo. For more than three weeks, some services such as
hospitals have been suffering greatly. Supervision vehicles and ambulances are parked, while staff from various health facilities believe that hope for the solution of situation is weakening.

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Exhausted and desperate passengers in a parking lot in the capital of Kirundo, September 2024 (SOS Media Burundi)