Whereas the KPC has been denying it is at fault for the recent fuel shortages... it turns out they are largely to blame... but the average (stupid?) Kenyan would rather listen to officialdom...
Here are links: BD editorial blaming KPC (& about time... I preceded them by a few days!)
KPC's 'fake' upgrade commissioning (KPC invited his kibziness for no good reason)
11 comments:
You are clearly angry at officialdom but that gives you no right to call many of us the anonymous kenyans stupid. You have more insight into such matters cauz i clearly believe you are in the business of oil.
Please direct your anger at the right target - Goverment. You already win half the battle by exposing the truth, but i guess to the people who engineer such problems, to all your Rants and Raves, they ask 'mta do?'.
Anonymous,
With apologies but I have to agree with Coldtusker.
Look at the leaders we always end up choosing and try to tell me we are not ignorant.
Those same leaders we "fought" for are the ones who put the management of KPC in place.
Ergo, our fault.
Guys, it is easy to call people stupid but one may actually gain from putting yourself in their shoes. Here's a reconstruction:
1) KPC award a tender to some chinese to increase through-put
2) Project timetable runs ok and Prsident's diary is booked for commissioning 60 days in advance
3) 1 week to presidential 'commissioning' all is well and system is testing A1. Things are so smooth that prices are even adjusting downward on the back of public demand but facilitated by efficient logistics
4) Two days to launch, the first hiccups occur in the new system. Faulty component identified but not before two marketers have been embarassed by orders not being met
5) President launches as a leading marketer complains about embarrasment of previous week and then the s**t hits the fan in a double dose. Company Y runs into problems and technical hitch reccurs.
Someone in KPC tries to cover up - Big mistake. MD explains actual story - too late. Contractor sorts faults - oops late. Stupid? Maybe. Incompetent? Possibly. Could it happen to anyone? who knows? Is there an opportunity here instead of issuing invectives - Certainly
Anon 5.41:
1) I am NOT in the oil business. I pay for every drop of petrol/oil...
2) GOVERNMENT in 'business' is a recipe for disaster since it distorts the market (maize, oil, finance) by introducing subsidies (which benefit a few) & inefficiencies (benefits rent-seekers).
(Oops)
3) The government is US. Yes, we either elected them (in Kenya) or do little to kick them out (Zimbabwe).
4) I said 'many' Kenyans. Not all. I obviously don't count myself as part of that group. Many of my peers are on my side. Unfortunately, we are outnumbered by the 'stupid/ignorant' Kenyans. There I have said it.
5) Exactly... mta do? This is the disdain they hold us in... why? coz we do precious little.
I believe in TRUE free markets with (very) limited regulation. I remain a fan of Milton Friedman, F.A. Hayek & Schumpeter.
Chmeee: Asante. BTW, 'leaders'? I have stopped calling them that!
Anon 3.25:
It is more important to FIX the problem & get the pipeline running than having his kibziness commission it. I would have spent the day FIXING the problem then entertaining kibz.
Generally, most PRIVATE organizations make sure the project is up & running BEFORE the 'commissioning'. Why? The profits & image (trust) are more important.
How could you say 'possibly incompetent'... I say definitely INCOMPETENT.
I use invectives when I am at the end of my tether. I am looking for petrol when it should be a-plenty.
It's the holidays. What did KPC expect?
Furthermore, the dog & pony show led (ignorant) Kenyans to believe that Oil Marketers are at fault whereas they can only sell what they have!
The government has its tentacles & rent-seekers at:
Ministry of Energy (manages the Oil Tender System)
KPA (oil offloading)
KPRL (extremely inefficient oil refiner)
KPC (oil/fuel pipeline)
If the idiots at KPC were not at fault then why was NOCK out of petrol as well?
With respect to the Word "stupid" in African culture this is highly disrespectful and almost on the same level as "monkey". So in my mind its use in the context in a generalised term is disrespectful to Kenyans. The extent of the severity of the word is well illustrated by Mugabe's description of all Americans as "stupid". Yes, this monkey seems to know the meaning of the word.
Anonymous @ 12:36:00 AM
Oh goody, let’s play the usual African guilt trip and focus on the trivialities instead.
What I find extremely depressing is that we can allow ourselves to become distracted by the tinny tiny issues while letting the major issues wither.
Just like with the case of the ECK, who were caught live, in color, on TV “botching-up” the 2007 elections. Yet, funny enough, nobody seems to ask themselves one little simple question; Why would the ECK, all by itself, decide to botch-up the elections? Now everybody is ecstatic about their going home, giving each other high-fives, while thinking the future of free and fair elections is now assured, under the same “stupid” politicians who appointed the ECK.
Trivial, ain’t it?
In this KPC case, the government has, yet again, failed the citizens and, without blinking, are lying, yet again, to our faces.
And we should be more concerned about the word “stupid”?
Gosh, if that ain’t trivial, what is?
Anon @ 12.36: I used the word STUPID coz the idiots are stupid (hmmm... does that sentence make sense?)
We have agreed definitely INCOMPETENT...
BTW, on Tuesday (23 Dec 2008) as reported in Wednesday's Nation per the top headlines... the blame for fuel shortages was shifted to MOTORISTS.
So they blamed the (private) oil marketers, (semi-private) KPLC and now Oil/Fuel consumers.
It was attributed to 'panic' buying by consumers. WTF?
(1) It's the holidays.
(2) I was not able to 'find' fuel for 3 days. I stopped trying coz it was a waste of fuel trying to find fuel.
Airlines do not 'panic-buy' in any substantial quantities... & there was a shortage of Jet Fuel as well. Go figure!
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