Transporters set measures to curb fuel siphoning

By Patrick Beja

Transporters are recording huge losses as their members siphon fuel on the highway for sale.

The 300 transport firms under the umbrella of Kenya Transport Association (KTA) are now working on stringent measures to curb stealing and selling of fuel from their trucks on the highway by their drivers and turnboys.

They include introduction of performance cards for drivers whereby those who do not siphon fuel and are accident-free for a certain period get promotion to a higher grade of senior professional driver as motivation.

Owners of transit trucks will also provide certificate of good conduct, driver’s license, a copy of the national identity card and the driver’s photocopy to KTA.

The data would then be shared with police, Mombasa port and Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) for tracking down drivers who siphon fuel or are involved in theft of cargo.KTA Mombasa branch executive officer Eunice Mwanyallo says the new measures will be rolled roll out next month.

Information

"We believe that keeping data for drivers and sharing information with various agencies will help reduce siphoning of fuel and theft of cargo on the highway.

"In case of a problem, specific information about an errant driver will be circulated and the driver will have nowhere to hide," Mwanyallo said.

Siphoning and sale of diesel is rampant between Mariakani weighbridge and Sultan Hamud.

It is estimated that each of the 12,000 transit trucks which deliver cargo to the Great Lakes from Mombasa port weekly loss of 100 litres of diesel while going and a similar amount on the return trip.

This translates to a total of Sh168 million loss a week for transit trucks released to the highways a week.

For the two measures to be effective, KTA is seeking the backing of transport associations in countries served by Mombasa port so that foreign drivers collecting cargo in Kenya could be tracked down after committing an offence.