The interrupted petrol supply has forced many fishermen to delay their plans to go out to the sea, while farmers are facing the danger of becoming penniless.

It is now the high fishing season. About 2000 fishing boats are converging on the Song Doc seaport in Ca Mau province,.

Lacking fuel, ships cannot go out to open sea

Pham Van Thuy, the owner of a boat docking at Song Doc port, complained: “With the short supply of petrol and oil, we cannot go out fishing to the open sea. Fishing is our main job, therefore, when boats are left ashore, we cannot earn money, while we still spend on maintenance of our boats”.

There are now about 200 fishing boats in The Khanh Hoi port. In previous days, petroleum shops opened till midnight, but now they close earlier. Pham Thi Ha, the owner of two fishing boats, related that every month she need  5000 litres of oil. “Previously, when I purchased oil, I only paid after every trip to the sea. However, now I have to place an order in advance and pay on deliveries,” she complained.

The petroleum shortage worries hundreds of ship owners in Da Nang City. “If the situation doesn’t improve, 100 fishing boats will have to stay ashore,” said Nguyen Van Thanh in Son Tra district.

Tran Van Hoang, a fisherman in Thanh Khe district, related that his family, after a long time of saving money, has purchased a fishing boat worth 500 million dong. He plans to leave for the open sea on February 24, but he is worried that the plan may be delayed. If so, he will face big difficulties, because he has debts to pay

Coffee plants wither, rice cannot be harvested

It is now the season of watering coffee plants in Dak Lak province and local farmers need a big volume of oil to run water pumps. Vo Kia, a farmer in Krong Buk, related that his family had five hectares of coffee plants, but only two hectares were left as the oil was exhausted.

“I traveled 30 kilometers and went to six petroleum shops, but I couldn’t purchase a single liter of oil. The three unwatered hectares of coffee plants are withering. If I can’t buy oil for another few days, I will lose those three hectares,” he said.

A Ma Ngoi, another farmer, also complained that he traveled 40 kilometers to different districts, but he couldn’t buy the oil for the pump to water his three hectares of coffee. “I heard that oil was sold in Krong Buk district, but when I came, none of the eight filling stations sold oil,” he said.

According to Nguyen Thi Phuong Lan from the Dak Lak provincial trade and industry department, every year, Dak Lak needs about 200,000 cubic meters of diesel to run water pumps. In the past few years, as filling stations have been selling diesel in dribs and drabs, farmers have become anxious. She said that the demand is increasing sharply, but petroleum shops can’t meet the demand. The shop owners said that suppliers have been delivering only small quantities.

The rice is ripening but farmers cannot harvest it because they do not have the petrol to run combines.

Meanwhile, filling stations and petroleum shops have been selling in dribs and drabs, despite the assurance by the Ministry of Industry and Trade that the petroleum is profuse and there was no need to worry about the shortage.

CV