Petroleum companies in The Gambia have announced that they are ceasing operations in the country due to government price control and the unavailability of US dollars in the market to pay suppliers.

“We, the oil marketing companies (OMCs), have a sense of responsibility, as suppliers of petroleum products, employers, taxpayers, and as business entities, to inform all and sundry of a crisis that the country is now facing with respect to the availability of fuel.

“In the coming days, we will be forced to shut down our operations. There are four main reasons, we are not able to find sufficient quantities of US Dollars in the market in order to pay our suppliers for fuel, meaning we are not able to resupply our stations,” the oil companies said in a statement.

“Our banks are no longer able to issue credit so that we can get fuel from our suppliers. The last three months’ Government pricing structure have imposed on the OMCs bankruptcy losses if we continue for another month.

“In addition, these pricing structures have been such that Government only cares about recouping as much revenues as possible from the amount it claims to have subsidized in recent months. 

“In their effort to do this, they are putting at risk the continuity of businesses in the sector,” the statement added.

Reporting by Adama Makasuba