Wednesday, October 12, 2005

Observatório Africano do Pico do Petróleo

Crise dos combustíveis na Zambia

Zambia minister to tackle energy crisis

Tuesday 11 October 2005, 18:19 Makka Time, 15:19 GMT

The government hopes to end fuel shortages

The Zambian president has appointed a new energy minister to combat a crippling fuel crisis that he says is playing havoc with the economy and agriculture.
President Levy Mwanawasa, administering the oath of office on Tuesday to Felix Mutati, urged him to deal with the crisis immediately.
"Commercial farmers need diesel and petrol. The country's economic gains risk being reversed if the fuel shortages are not addressed," Mwanawasa said at the swearing-in ceremony.
The fuel shortage has been sparked by the prolonged closure of the country's only refinery, leading to unprecedented queues at petrol pumps and has claimed the scalp of Mwanawasa's last energy minister.
"My immediate assignment is to normalise the supply of fuel so that people can concentrate on making money as opposed to sleeping in queues," said Mutati after he was sworn in.

Copper industry suffers

The Zambian government on Monday said a chemical required to re-open the oil refinery had finally arrived, but did not say when the refinery would re-open.
Mwanawasa last week sacked then energy minister George Mpombo, saying he had failed to deal with the crisis which had forced copper mining companies, which form the backbone of the economy, to scale down operations.
Copper production is the
mainstay of the economy
Zambia's copper sector is still suffering from fuel shortages with Konkola Copper Mines' Nkana smelter running at half capacity and the Mufulira smelter shut.
The government said it planned to import 65 million litres of fuel to end the crisis.
Zambia's oil refinery shut last month for maintenance and a lack of naphtha, a product used in the refining process.
A senior manager at KCM, the southern African country's largest copper producer, said the fuel situation remained critical.
"We are still running at half capacity at Nkana smelter. We are still producing 300 tons of copper per day instead of 600 tons," he said.

Fonte: Aljazeera.net, Business Report


Update: 18/10/05

Presidente do Zimbábue compara Bush e Blair a Hitler na ONU

O presidente do Zimbábue, Robert Mugabe, disse ontem (15) que o líder americano, George W. Bush, e o primeiro-ministro britânico, Tony Blair tem a pretensão de dominar o mundo, como "Adolf Hitler", e são terroristas internacionais. As declarações foram feitas durante uma cerimônia marcando o 60º aniversário da FAO (agência da ONU para Agricultura e Alimentação).

Mugabe começou seu discurso afirmando que Bush e Blair invadiram ilegalmente o Iraque para "tirar do poder" o governo local. "Será que devemos permitir que esses homens, os dos profanos do nosso milênio, formarem uma aliança para atacar um país inocente?" questionou o presidente.

"A voz de Bush e a voz de Blair não podem decidir quem vai governar o Zimbábue, quem vai governar a África, Ásia, Venezuela, Irã, ou o Iraque", disse ele.

Mugabe também acusou o Reino Unido e os Estados Unidos de tentar fazer com que ele desistisse da redistribuição de fazendas cujos donos eram brancos entre negros no país.

"Esse é o mundo que desejamos? O mundo dos gigantes e dos terroristas internacionais que usam seus Estados para nos intimidar? Nos tornamos pequenos", afirmou.

Algumas delegações aplaudiram o seu discurso várias vezes. Mas o embaixador americano Tony Hall, que protestou contra a presença de Mugabe nas celebrações, afirmou que o presidente do Zimbábue "foi muito infeliz" em seus comentários.

Com agências internacionais

Fonte: Diário Vermelho

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