New plan afoot to curb theft of fuel at Dar port

An aerial view of a section of Dar es Salaam port. PHOTO | FILE

Summary

• Fuel shortages do exist, and it is proposed that steps should be taken so that importers can continue to do business without incurring fuel losses. As it is, the government is losing revenues because businesses are selling less fuel - and fuel consumers are also affected.

By Bethsheba Wambura

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Dar es Salaam. Importers and security agencies have adopted a three-plan strategy in an attempt to curb theft of fuel from the main flow meter at Dar es Salaam port.

This comes within just one week after the new Dar es Salaam regional commissioner, Mr Amos Makalla, made a surprise visit to the port and along the pipe that discharges fuel to companies’ tanks.

During the June 14 visit, Mr Makalla revealed that 15 people had been arrested over allegations of connecting an illegal pipe to facilitate fuel theft at the main fuel flow meter at the Port.

On Friday June 18, six people were arraigned at the Kisutu Resident Magistrate’s Court, facing four charges, including theft of 164,160,000 litres of diesel valued at Sh246 billion.

A similar incident was unearthed in 2018 when seven people were arraigned at the Kisutu Resident Magistrate’s Court, facing several charges, illegally connecting pipes to the fuel flow meter to divert the product up to their houses.

But, in an attempt to turn such occurrences into past history, Mr Makalla said yesterday that he had formed a task force to work on the matter.

He said regional authorities in the commercial capital had held a meeting with fuel importers, Tanzania Ports Authority (TPA) and Petroleum Bulk Procurement Agency (PBPA) where they agreed to conduct routine surveillance along the flow meter.

“Other issues that we have agreed during the meeting included requiring TPA to purchase high technology equipment including radar, to detect fuel leaks or illegally connected fuel pipeline from a major fuel plant.

“We have agreed with fuel importers that they have a responsibility to buy flow meters and install them in the area where they are distributed fuel so that we can work together to end this problem of fuel theft,” he said.

“Safety of the fuel pipeline infrastructure is important. There is a day when there will be a major disaster for people to enter the pipeline from time to time, we have witnessed even fuel trucks exploding the way they cause the disaster, so we don’t want such scene to happen at the port,” he said.

Speaking on the loss caused by people connecting illegally to the fuel pipeline, Mr Makalla said in a year the government loses about Sh37 billion this way.

Fuel shortages do exist, and it is proposed that steps should be taken so that importers can continue to do business without incurring fuel losses. As it is, the government is losing revenues because businesses are selling less fuel - and fuel consumers are also affected.

He called on people who know they are illegally connected to a fuel pipeline to surrender themselves to the task force which is under Dar es Salaam Special Zone Police Commander Jumanne Muliro.

“If you know you are illegally connected to a fuel pipeline just surrender today (yesterday) and tomorrow (today) because when we come to inspect and discover this, your house or plot will be confiscated as investigations go on,” he said, adding that “we must protect our infrastructure, including fuel pipelines.

Furthermore, Mr Makalla urged people who are planning to steal fuel to ditch such plans immediately, as they will not succeed in their evil intentions, as the government is out and out to end such crimes.