Where’s the Fuel?

In large measure, we recognized, eleven long months ago, that we had grown soft and that our lives lacked grit and unpredictability. We were in search of a more authentic and less sanitized experience. We’ve accomplished most of our objectives….especially these last few days: We are in the midst of a gas crisis here, just as we are moving out of our rental home and arranging to stay with friends til we leave in 9 days.

For reasons that remain obscure, spot shortages of diesel fuel have morphed into shortages of unleaded gasoline and diesel and….in the last week…..a catastrophic national shortage of fossil fuels. Desperate to keep goods and services flowing, freight trucks and automobiles keep rolling until supplies are exhausted and are then abandoned on the sides of the road. The abandoned vehicles block the roads and snarl traffic for the dwindling number of moving vehicles.

In the absence of real information, rumors circulate quickly and with devastating effect. Young men with all sorts of containers congregate at the gas stations where a tanker was reported to have been seen. Inevitably, wealthy people pay impoverished people to stand in line at the gas stations, awaiting delivery. We know of a Malawian man who was paid to wait in line for 27 hours, only to be notified, when it was finally his turn,that the supply was “finished”. When it was recently reported that fuel was arriving by freight train, people congregated at the station. It is rumored that, for people willing (and able) to pay twice as much, gasoline can be purchased….late at night…..behind the shopping center.

The impact on the citizenry is dramatic: traffic patterns have changed and even more people walk everywhere. It is rumored that neither the police nor the ambulances have fuel either…so that the plan is to remain safe and well. People describe spot shortages of staples in the market. The ubiquitous minibus drivers have dramatically (and illegally) raised their fees for a population that has fewer and fewer options. For the two of us, every trip to town must be carefully orchestrated to run errands, go to work, etc.

For emerging markets with fragile economies, these developments can be devastating. The people understandably turn to their much beloved (recently re-elected) President Bingu, for explanation and resolution. He has asked his people to remain patient. Not a problem, it seems to us, since patience is the one commodity in Malawi that is present in wild abundance. No petrol? No problem.

Speculation about the cause of this crisis is rampant: there is a chronic shortage of foreign currency which has gotten dramatically worse since the President purchased his new personal jet….says one school of thought. It’s the deterioration of the bridge from Mozambique to Malawi and the resultant need to limit truck traffic across the border….says another. It’s a bitter political rival of the President, who is determined to make him look ineffectual says a third.

In the end, I’m discouraged that it doesn’t even matter what caused the crisis if the willingness to take it seriously and respond with a sense of urgency is lacking. In a year that saw so very much sadness that defied logic and reason it seemed inevitable that we would prepare to take our leave as a new and unexpected plague was visited upon this long suffering land.