50% of the vehicle fleet cannot operate due to fuel shortage | 50% del parque automotor no puede trabajar por falta de combustible

By El Diario:

Leader of the Drivers’ Confederation says

The leader of the National Confederation of Drivers of Bolivia, Víctor Tarqui, stated yesterday that only 50% of the vehicle fleet is operating due to the lack of diesel, and said the situation has already become unsustainable for the sector.

“50% of the vehicle fleet cannot go out to work due to the lack of fuel. Buses are practically out of service, the terminals are completely empty. There are passengers, but we have no buses because there is no diesel for the trips,” he said.

According to the leader, “without fuel, the transport worker is not going to move,” and he asserted that “as a consequence, prices are also rising; we are practically reaching a totally unsustainable situation.”

The president of the State, Luis Arce Catacora, stated that the fuel supply is not guaranteed unless external financing is secured.

Drivers are spending up to three days waiting for diesel at service stations and report that they have no basic services or food.

“We are waiting three days,” said one driver. “They don’t care about the lives of the drivers,” said his companion.

Don Genaro, a heavy transport driver, reported that he has no access to food or water and that each day is a “struggle.”

“We have no basic services, no water, no food — that’s what we have to endure as international transport workers,” he said.

He recounted that before they used to make three or four trips, but now they only do one or two per month.

Another driver said: “There are no basic services; we transport workers are abandoned.”

The situation is repeated at almost all service stations in La Paz and El Alto, with blocks of vehicles waiting for fuel. (With information from Unitel)

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