Warning of a complete exhaustion of cooking oil and ghee stocks in a couple of days, the manufacturers have announced that they will stage a protest sit-in in front of parliament if their consignments are not provided security.
The oil and ghee millers have already been on strike since February 18 and seeking protection against private transporters, who allegedly want to prevent the millers from transporting oil from Karachi to other parts of the country through the National Logistics Cell (NLC).
Addressing a press conference here on Thursday, Pakistan Vanaspati Manufacturers Association Chairman Abdul Wahid Sheikh, flanked by other office-bearers, reiterated that the association would continue with the strike unless security arrangements were made.
“Stocks of ghee and cooking oil have dried up in the market and retailers can only meet two to three days of requirements,” Sheikh said, adding the country was losing revenue of Rs400 million per day due to the closure of mills.
“So far, no government official has approached us to resolve the issue despite the fact that our industry pays direct taxes amounting to Rs60 billion every year,” he pointed out and said 50,000 families had been affected due to the closure of cooking oil and ghee mills.
The industry has also suspended orders for oil import from Malaysia. “We have asked Malaysia to stop oil shipments because of fears of payment default,” said Sheikh.
According to Sheikh, the Sindh High Court has permitted the use of NLC vehicles for oil transportation but the private transporters violated the court order by setting four NLC tankers on fire a few days ago.
Speaking on the occasion, Senator Ilyas Bilour lashed out at the transporters for resorting to blackmailing.
Published in The Express Tribune, February 24th, 2012.
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