Contacted by The Citizen for comment, Zura acting head of information Khuzaimat Bakari Kheri said some vessels had failed to dock and unload fuel at Marubuni because of dilapidated infrastructure.
He added that ships with oil destined for Zanzibar now docked at Dar es Salaam or Mombasa port.
This means that the Zanzibar government has to send smaller vessels to collect fuel from tankers docked in Dar es Salaam or Mombasa.
“For example, on December 29, a tanker could not dock at the port, and was forced to go to Mombasa instead, where it unloaded its cargo after in was unable to dock at Marubuni oil jetty which could not accommodate the vessel,” said Mr Kheri.
He added that Zura in collaboration with the Zanzibar Ports Authority planned to refurbish the jetty.
“Plans are being made to refurbish the jetty and increase its capacity. This should end the problem once and for all because tankers will be able to dock without any problem.”
Mr Kheri said a sharp increase in demand for the commodity during the festive season was partly to blame for the shortage.
He added that the daily petrol and diesel consumption in Zanzibar was 165,000 and 152,000 litres, respectively, but demand during the festive season almost doubled.
Some fuel stations have remained closed in the past few days due to the shortage.
Some fuel traders urged the authorities to find a permanent solution to the problem.
Kijangwani Petrol Station manager Abubakar Mohamed in addition to denying the government revenue, the shortage was bad for Zanzibar’s economy.
