Restrictions on fuel distribution, as part of the health emergency caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, are triggering long lines at service stations in the state of Guarico. Farm producers are affected by this situation.
The president of the Producers Association of Guarico State (Aprolegua in Spanish), Rafael Meza, said that there are farmers whose crops are stranded due to lack of fuel.
“There are producers who have not been able to go to the fields to bring food to their workers because they have no gasoline,” he said.
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For Meza, the lack of fuel in the state is critical and said that, despite being part of a suppose priority sector, some producers have to wait in line for a full week to fill the gas tanks.
18 days without fuel
Meanwhile, Pablo Lo Cascio, spokesman of the agricultural sector in the state, said that at least 600 small, medium and large producers of milk, meat, sorghum, and other cereals, are affected by the lack of gasoline for 18 days.
“Many of us go to our farms daily, but without gasoline, we cannot move, and there are workers stranded there. Production is paralyzed,” explained Lo Cascio.
Both Meza and Lo Cascio, who spoke to El Pitazo by phone, expressed concern about the decline of agriculture in the Llanero state.
They pointed out that the fuel shortage, in COVID-19‘s health emergency, is worsening the crisis in the sector. They are demanding immediate attention from the regional government, to guarantee food production in Guárico and neighboring states.
