Thu, 19 Jan 2017 13:05:28 +0000 GOVERNMENT must come up with a clear, consistent and unambiguous policy to regulate the petroleum industry instead of the current flip-flop, uncoordinated way of running such a vital enterprise that makes our technocrats look like a bunch of amateurs. Hardly three months after the Government, through the 2017 national Budget speech, stood on the pedestal of Parliament to announce that it would no longer be involved in the matrix of importing and distributing petroleum feedstock and products, we have back-pedalled and are back in it full time. On Tuesday the State regulator Energy Regulation Board (ERB) suspended the importation of petroleum products by the oil marketing companies (OMCs), middlemen and individuals who had responded overwhelmingly to Finance Minister Felix Mutati’s assurance that the Government would keep its hands off the industry and remain only the regulator. The Government’s lack of policy consistency is made worse by its relationship with […]
