People flock outside petrol sheds, not local market – this Ramadan!

Ramadan is a month that sees sky-high demand for food and beverage products with local market area usually jam-packed with people. There seems to be a deviation this Ramadan – with shorter queues observed in local market and longer queues observed outside petrol sheds.

There are about six petrol sheds in Male’ – which are seen to be jam-packed with customers ever since the start of Ramadan – especially during the evening and at night.

Most petrol sheds are open from 9 am to 10 pm. And there is no limit to the quantity of petrol sold. So why are there such long queues?

One reason for the rise in demand for petrol seems to be the rise in number of people out for rides. And because petrol sheds are closed for long periods of time during each prayer time.

An employee of Hakatha Petrol Shed who spoke to “Sun” said that business had been booming since start of Ramadan with long queues of customers.

“Sales have improved significantly,” he said.

An official from State Trading Organization (STO) – the biggest petrol importer in the country – said that he could not think of any reason for the unusual rise in demand, and that the company was looking into the issue.