Part of a financial crisis?
Residents of Kiribati’s most populous island, South Tarawa, were welcomed to August by a fuel crisis that persisted for six days, disrupting the capital’s ‘business-as-usual’ mode and affecting the daily activities of the more than 60,000 people who dwell on the fuel-reliant atoll.
The public, mainly owners of private cars and motorbikes and users of public transportation, quickly took to social media expressing their discontent over the sudden disruption of fuel service, in particular, benzene.
Fuel outlets across the island began to ration their remaining fuel supply to the public, causing a surge of people to flock to their nearest petrol stations. Images of cars and motorbikes queuing for more than three kilometres went viral on Facebook.
Chaos followed as tussles broke out among the crowds at the petrol stations, as the fuel shortage entered its third consecutive day (Sunday 6 August) without any official communication or explanation from the authorities.
The state-owned enterprise entrusted to provide fuel services to the nation of more than 200,000 people, Kiribati Oil Company Ltd (KOIL), was tight lipped about the shortage over the weekend. The Office of Te Beretitenti (the President’s Office) who typically intervenes in times of national crisis, was also mute.
In the absence of any official communication – three days into the crisis – public outcry intensified as people began to point fingers and demand answers from the concerned authorities. Fueling the outcry further was the fact that it was a long weekend. Thousands of families’ plans to celebrate National Youth and Children’s holiday were scrapped due to the fuel shortage.
“I was not prepared at all for this sudden shortage of fuel… experienced during this long weekend and it is with regret that I had to cancel all my plans to conserve the fuel I have left in my car for emergency purposes,” Tianeti Ioane, a former parliamentarian posted on his Facebook page.
On 8 Aug, the fifth consecutive day into the crisis and still without any official communication, the local independent newspaper, Kiribati Newstar broke the news that the cause of the abrupt shortage in benzene was due to a dispute between KOIL and its international supplier, over an outstanding payment on KOIL’s part.
Kiribati Newstar quoted sources from the Ministry of Infrastructure and Sustainable Energy – the Ministry overlooking the mandate of KOIL – as saying that a fuel tanker from the international supplier was ”drifting” somewhere near Tarawa atoll, awaiting a resolution to the dispute before it could moor into port and discharge the fuel ration for August.
On 9 Aug, day six into the crisis, the President’s Office finally made an announcement on behalf of KOIL: “We wish to apologise for the unexpected disruption in fuel supply experienced in this past weekend. This problem is caused by an ongoing reconciliation of KOIL’s debt with its international supplier. It is our resolve that once this reconciliation is settled, fuel supply will be back to normal.”
The statement from KOIL offered no further details about the reconciliation and the debt, despite numerous attempts by Kiribati Newstar seeking further information from both the President’s office and KOIL.
Hours later, KOIL posted its own announcement on social media claiming that the reconciliation has been resolved and that the fuel tanker will arrive the following morning, Thursday 10 August – which it did.
While the fuel crisis has been resolved for now, Kiribati Opposition Leader, Tessie Lambourne says the matter is a sign that the Government of Kiribati is going through a greater financial problem.
“If you observe the trend of the challenges that the people are experiencing today, it all boils down to money, or lack thereof. Because I cannot stress enough that this government’s budget is operating on a deficit – because they are spending a lot of money and making very little returns – if not, none,” Lambourne exclaimed.
Lambourne alluded to the more than one year-long shortage in pharmaceutical supplies, as well as the ongoing energy crisis, which has seen the nation’s utility company (Public Utilities Board) amassing mounting debts since 2020, operating diesel generators that have outlived their life span while new generators donated by China and New Zealand are unable to meet the required energy needs of people in the capital.
She intends to raise the issues in Parliament.
