Fuel crisis looms as tanker owners call strike

The All Pakistan Oil Tankers Owners Association (APOTOA) announced a strike on Wednesday, hampering the supply of petroleum products to up-country.

The strike was announced in order to pressurise the government to accept their demands. The association has gone on strike against the change in rules barring oil tankers from entering city areas during daytime hours.

The dialogue between the Rawalpindi administration and oil tankers’ went futile on Wednesday after which the second round would be carried out on Thursday (today).

APOTOA has demanded from the federal government to call on the Rawalpindi district administration to revoke its order that restricted the movement of oil tankers between 10 pm to 6 am in the district.

The Rawalpindi administration had imposed the measure to reduce the traffic jams on roads across the district.

The oil supply to Islamabad International Airport, power plants, and filling stations in Rawalpindi, Islamabad, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (KP), Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) and Gilgit-Baltistan (GB) remained suspended on Wednesday.

Noman Butt, general secretary of APOTOA, said that the Rawalpindi administration had banned the entry of oil tankers during the day, which was not acceptable and implementable. He added that talks have been held and letters sent to the relevant officials, including the petroleum secretary.

The general secretary said that the supply of petroleum products to the twin cities, Azad Kashmir, Gilgit-Baltistan, Islamabad Airport and power plants has also been stopped.

A commission of inquiry formed in July this year to probe into a sudden shortage of petrol in the country has noted that one of the reasons behind the crisis was a lack of coordination among the departments working under the Petroleum Division.

This is revealed in a report of the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) led inquiry panel. The commission has submitted its report to Prime Minister Imran Khan who has asked the relevant officials to present it before the federal cabinet in its meeting to be held on Tuesday.

The report, available with The Express Tribune, said oil marketing companies (OMCs) were primarily responsible for the shortage of the fuel that hit the country in early June as they deliberately stopped supplying petroleum products to pumps despite having considerable stocks at their disposal.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 17^th, 2020.