Although the junta says a sufficient amount of fuel is being distributed, residents of Naypyitaw say that even they are waiting in hours-long lines to buy gas or diesel.
They are lining up in front of fuel stations for up to six hours even though the stations limit the amount each person can buy, residents of the capital say. Motorbike owners get only two liters at some stations, while car owners can buy up to 20, a resident of Naypyitaw explained.
At the pump, the price of Octane 92 and 95 gas was 2,555 and 2,670 kyats per liter, respectively, on Monday, while premium diesel was selling for 2230 kyats per liter. On the black market, premium diesel is selling for 7,000 kyats per liter.
“There is a shortage of fuel for the people [so] military personnel in Naypyitaw are selling black-market fuel,” a resident of the capital told The Irrawaddy.
The line-ups for fuel and cooking oil since the coup demonstrate junta mismanagement, he added.
Another resident said junta boss Min Aung Hlaing should be ashamed that residents of Naypyitaw Union Territory are lining up for fuel.
The fuel shortage began in early December when the regime was no longer able to sell the US dollars to importers that they need to purchase fuel, business sources said.
Residents of Yangon, Naypyitaw, Mandalay, Mawlamyine, Dawei, Hap-an and Pyi say they are facing fuel shortages.
A resident of Yangon said that even after waiting two to six hours last week, people could only buy a limited amount of fuel.
“This week I got as much as I needed at the fuel station, but I had to line up for four hours,” another resident of Yangon told The Irrawaddy on Monday.
The Supervisory Committee on Fuel Oil Import, Storage and Distribution announced on Sunday that 24,319 tons of gasoline and 53,315 tons of diesel were being unloaded into storage tanks from six vessels docked at Thilawa Port. Another nine vessels carrying 67,737 tons of gasoline and 65,359 tons of diesel are waiting to dock, the committee said.
“We distributed more fuel than usual these days [and] the fuel purchased for our country is continuing,” committee secretary U Than Zaw said.
However, Yangon residents say they continue to see rising taxi fares, long lines at gas stations and traffic jams caused by the long lines.
“Although I have a car, I can’t use it because I don’t want to line up for hours at a gas station [even though] taxi fares have doubled,” a Yangon resident told The Irrawaddy. “Such poor management by the military council is really annoying,” he added.
Traffic jams caused by long lines near fuel stations are so bad that people have to leave home early to get to their workplaces on time in the morning, another resident of Myanmar’s largest city said.
