Contaminated fuel grounds police fleet

Chinhoyi (Telegraph-New Ziana) – Much of the police vehicle fleet in remote areas in Mashonaland West Province has been grounded by contaminated fuel, a senior officer has said.

Superintendent Obvious Gadzikwa said most outlying police stations in the province draw fuel from their nearest urban centres using private containers, some of which would be contaminated.

As a result, the fuel is then contaminated, and damage the vehicles.

Because of this, he said, most vehicles in the remote areas are grounded, requiring repairs.

Gadzikwa said the problem resulted from the refusal of the police’s sole fuel supplier to transport the commodity to all areas in need.

The supplier only offloads at major points in the province, forcing outlying areas to travel to the supplied centres to draw
the commodity using uncertified containers.

In addition, he said the fuel supplied to police in the province was not enough, and was affecting operations especially in far flung places like Siakobvu.

“We have one fuel supplier as the police, and the supplier said he cannot drive his vehicle to Kariba and other districts so he leaves the fuel here (in Chinhoyi), prompting other districts to come and collect fuel in containers,” Gadzikwa said.

He appealed for funds to repair the grounded fleet to enable police in the province to effectively carryout its mandate.
Telegraph-New Ziana