Diesel price hike: Owners threaten to bring oil tankers to a standstill

Give the govt 10 days to either lower prices or allow them to increase fares.

KARACHI:

Thousands of oil tankers will besiege oil marketing company offices and buildings and the entire supply to grid stations, ships, airplanes and petroleum stations will be cut if diesel prices are not brought down.

This dire scenario was outlined by the All Pakistan Oil Tankers Owners Association on Wednesday at a press conference.

The association’s president warned of a countrywide strike from April 16 if their demands were not met. According to Haji Mohammad Akram Khan Durrani, they will give the government 10 days to “either take back its decision to increase diesel rates or allow us to increase our fares proportionately”.

The latest hike in petroleum, and especially diesel, prices means the oil tanker owners need to increase their fares, otherwise they would not be able to run their businesses. He said they had already protested across the country but in vain. The prices were too high for the tanker owners to continue working.

Durrani demanded compensation for the owners whose tankers were burnt in the riots after Benazir Bhutto’s assassination. At least 110 tankers belonging to association members were burnt at a loss exceeding Rs600 million. The claims have been gathering dust at the Prime Minister’s Secretariat for three years, he added.

The association’s Rafiq Kakar accused oil marketing companies of corruption. Even if the government increases fares, the companies do not pay accordingly and the ultimate loss is borne by the tankers, he said. Kakar demanded security from extortionists and criminals who operate on the highways, link roads, the Northern Bypass, from Balochistan’s Hub Chowki to Quetta and in southern Punjab. These are the areas where their drivers are kidnapped and killed and the oil is stolen.

The press conference was attended by leaders of oil tanker owners associations from all four provinces. Earlier, they held a demonstration in front of the press club.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 7^th,  2011.