Police, fire and other emergency
services in Swaziland / Eswatini are set to grind to a halt because of a fuel shortage
for vehicles after the government failed to pay suppliers.
It follows reports that medicines
are running out in government hospitals and clinics and schoolchildren are
going hungry because food bills have not been paid.
The government owes a total
of E2.78 billion to its suppliers, it was revealed last week.
The Times
of Swaziland reported on
Thursday (19 July 2018) a source revealed, ‘It was highly likely that all
government cars could soon be grounded, something which would affect essential
services like the police, health sector, Fire and Emergency Services, among
others.’
It added, ‘Furthermore, the
insider alleged that the shortage of fuel had been caused by government’s cash
flow challenges which had been experienced by the country since the economical
meltdown started some years ago.’
The Times reported, ‘Sources from some of the government departments
which provide essential services in the kingdom attested to the looming crisis.’
Swaziland is broke and as
of 30 June 2018 owed a
total of E12.9 billion, the equivalent of 20.8 percent of the kingdom’s GDP. Of that nearly E3
billion is owed to suppliers of goods and services.
All areas of public services have been hit by the financial crisis as companies
refuse to supply the government until outstanding bills are dealt with,
announced it had run out of stocks of medicines
because the government has not paid its bills.
Last week Swazipharm, Swaziland’s largest
distributor of pharmaceutical products and medical equipment to the healthcare
system of Swaziland, including government hospitals, private hospitals, local
government, clinics, humanitarian organisations, private organisations,
missionaries, pharmacies and chemists, reported
it was running out of stocks because bills had not been paid.
Long before Swazipharm’s announcement medicines, including vaccines against polio and tuberculosis had run out in many government hospitals and
clinics because drug suppliers had not been paid. In June 2017, Senator Prince
Kekela told parliament that at least
five people had died as a result of the drug shortages. About US$18
million was reportedly owed
to drug companies in May 2017.
In June 2018 it was reported
that children
collapsed with hunger in their school because the government had not
paid for food for them. The kingdom had previously been warned to expect
children to starve because the government had not paid its suppliers
for the food that is distributed free of charge at schools. The shortage was
reported to be widespread across the kingdom.
Meanwhile, King Mswati III
who rules Swaziland as one of the world’s last absolute monarchs wore
a watch
worth US$1.6 million and a suit
beaded with gold weighing 6 kg, at his 50th birthday
party in April. Days earlier he took delivery of his second private jet, a A340
Airbus, that after VIP upgrades
reportedly cost US$30 million. He received E15 million (US$1.2
million) in cheques, a
gold dining room suite and a gold
lounge suite among his birthday gifts. He now
has two private planes, 13 palaces and fleets of top-of-the-range BMW and
Mercedes cars.
Seven in ten of Swaziland’s
1.1 million population live in abject poverty with incomes less than the
equivalent of US$2 per day.
Despite the funding crisis, the Swazi Government still found US$30
million to buy the King a second private plane. It has also earmarked
E1.5bn this year to build a conference centre and five-star hotel to host the
African Union summit in 2020 that will last only eight days and it has
budgeted E5.5 million to build Prime Minister Barnabas Dlamini a retirement
house. There are also plans for a new parliament building that will cost E2.3
billion.
Meanwhile, the World
Food Program has said it cannot raise the US$1.1 million it needs to feed
starving children in the kingdom in the coming six months.
See also
GOVT CASH
CRISIS: SCHOOLKIDS SENT HOME
https://swazimedia.blogspot.com/2018/07/govt-cash-crisis-schoolkids-sent-home_12.html
CHAOS AS GOVT FAILS TO PAY SCHOOL FEES
CHAOS AS GOVT FAILS TO PAY SCHOOL FEES
ONLY 12
GOVT AMBULANCES IN WHOLE KINGDOM
SWAZILAND
ADMITS IT IS BROKE
https://swazimedia.blogspot.com/2018/06/swaziland-admits-it-is-broke.html
No comments:
Post a Comment