Dear Editor,

Planned subsidies on Liquid Petroleum Gas (LPG), used for cooking and lighting is timely as it will make the gas affordable. The high costs of this vital fuel had made many Rwandans abandon using the fuel.

When government left the market forces dictate, gas was the most expensive fuel in the country. Therefore few  families are using it. The dealers claim that both empty cylinders and the fuel are very expensive as they are all imported.

A kilogramme of gas that used to cost Rwf2,000 in 2007, at one time hiked to Rwf6,000 before that year ended. This year I don’t know how much it costs.

And when we ask the importers of the gas to explain why the gas here is the msot expensive in the East African region, most of them claim that the taxes are high.

They also add that transporting gas from Kenya where it is filled is expensive. Therefore the measure(s) government wants to apply to see that gas users and dealers in the country get affordable gas, comes at a right time.

This may also bringdown the prices of wood fuel and save our trees from being felled for wood fuel daily. But I suggest that we start filling the gas and manufacturing cylinders from Kigali. The move will reduce the costs of this vital gas.

Kigali