Word: fueled
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...when current Prime Minister Manmohan Singh stared down a camera to deliver a message earlier this month, there was no doubting the gravity of the situation. India was losing a battle of sorts: due to soaring oil prices, Singh told viewers, New Delhi was forced to roll back generous fuel subsidies, meaning everyone was going to start paying more - possibly much more - to cook their food and drive their vehicles. "There are limits to which we can keep consumer prices unaffected by rising import prices," Singh said, warning that without the change India could run out of funds to import...
...when the realization finally dawned on Cameroonians, the response was explosive. Beginning with a taxi strike in late February, thousands took to the streets to protest not only fuel prices but also the spiraling cost of staple foods such as rice and wheat. Barricades burned across the country and gas stations and government offices were torched. At least 24 protestors were killed by government forces, and hundreds of others were arrested during the ensuing crackdown...
...Gwat, the riots were a fitting reaction. He believes that along with the rise in prices, the quality of fuel at many gas pumps has plummeted. "Our fuel is not fine," he says. "They have started to mix in kerosene. It damages the engines." The managers of two Texaco stations in Yaoundé refute Gwat's claim. Not even the finest fuel would have spared Gwat's taxi the ravages of years of chugging along rutted dirt roads and up and down Yaoundé's muddy hills in the tropical humidity and pounding rainstorms. It requires several runs...
...Cameroon's topography and weather cannot change, although better road conditions could improve the fuel efficiency of vehicles. And, so far, the kinds of ideas floated by U.S. and European politicians - gas-tax breaks or increasing use of biofuels - have not yet been broached in Cameroon. Instead, politicians in Yaoundé have tried to ease the burden by cutting taxes and import duties on basic foods. And they have promised to review fuel prices and to build more refineries to boost fuel supplies. Although Cameroon has rich offshore oil deposits of its own, it has only one refinery...
...needing to import gasoline despite possessing huge oil deposits of its own. But building new refineries could take years, and require many millions of dollars in foreign aid. Until then, Gwat is hoping gas prices do not rise much further. "I spend a lot of my earnings on fuel," he says. "I earn well, but still it is only 150,000 francs [about $353] a month." And given what he pays to fill up in Yaoundé, he'd gladly settle for the new U.S. average price...