They blocked traffic on the highway when “some people opened fire at them from a tanker owned by the private company”, said Bakhtawar Wazir, Chairman of All Pakistan Edible Oil Tankers Association.
In protest against the NLC, the association has set up a camp at the Port Qasim for the past one week.
“Five members of our association were injured in the firing. We will not carry edible oil across the country and continue the strike until the NLC takes back the contract from the private company because it will completely destroy our business,” said Wazir while talking to The Express Tribune.
He said the tanker owners had no other business to do as they had specifically prepared 10-wheel tankers with a capacity of 25 to 30 tons for the supply of edible oil to ghee and oil manufacturing factories across the country. “We were asked to do so by the All Pakistan Vanaspati Manufacturers’ Association (PVMA) and one vehicle is worth Rs3 million.”
Wazir claimed that they had 5,500 oil tankers in their fleet, which supply edible oil across the country, but the NLC was hurting their business by bringing a private company in the field as “the NLC does not own any oil tankers”.
The edible oil transporters have been in the business for more than 15 years, but their vehicles are not hired for supply of petroleum products. Petroleum marketing companies do not use the tankers manufactured before 2000 and edible oil tankers were manufactured between 1994 and 1999.
A mafia
Talking to The Express Tribune, PVMA Transport Committee Chairman Mohammad Shoaib Khan said they had agreements with the NLC since 2007 and they could give a sub-contract.
NLC handled 20% of PVMA’s total supply and it had 43 vehicles. It sometimes brought private transport vehicles if its own vehicles fell short, he said. “NLC is a well-reputed institution and we have no complaints against them. Oil is never stolen or lost from NLC’s vehicles.”
Terming the edible oil tankers association a mafia, Khan said the body was creating trouble for other players in edible oil supply and “now it has started attacking the NLC.”
Members of the association attacked two NLC vehicles, leading to oil spill on roads, he alleged. Despite extensive efforts, NLC was not available for comment.
Published in The Express Tribune, October 12th, 2012.
COMMENTS (1)
Comments are moderated and generally will be posted if they are on-topic and not abusive.
For more information, please see our Comments FAQ
Such a shame that Main Entrance to the Port Qasim was blocked right next to National Highway yesterday and then this firing incident - Such a poor law & order and governance situation.
Those who commute through Malir to their office at Port Qasim live through the horror of mugging on Malir Traffic Signal near Caltex Pump - guys with guns come and knock at the window of cars in slow moving traffic..
No wonder investors and businessmen shy away from Pakistan.