By REBECCA MUSHOTA –

THE Ministry of Energy says it will engage Dalbit Petroleum, the company contracted to bring fuel into Zambia, to see how best it could use local transporters.

Permanent Secretary Charity Mwansa said in an interview that Dalbit Petroleum had the liberty to work with whichever transporters it wanted, but that Government would hold talks with it to see how best Zambian transporters could be incorporated.

She was responding to concerns raised by the Petroleum Transporters Association of Zambia (PTAZ) that they had lost business because foreign transporters had been engaged by both the private sector and Dalbit Petroleum to transport fuel into and across Zambia.

The PTAZ affiliates said they would be forced to cut jobs because of foreign tankers that had been allowed to flood the country.

Ms Mwansa said the Ministry of Energy could not dictate to Dalbit or any company on who to engage local transporters to bring fuel into Zambia.

“We are concerned about Zambian transporters and our main interest is to see job creation in the transport sector, that is why we will engage the company in discussions and see how best Zambian transporters will be incorporated,” she said.

She also urged local transporters to work on their pricing, saying their high prices discouraged fuel suppliers.

Ms Mwansa said Zambian transporters’ prices were higher compared to their counterparts in some countries in the region.

Dalbit International is the supplier of diesel and petrol to the Zambian Government.