Due credit: ‘Historic reduction in petrol prices welcome’

CM directs officials to ensure the benefit passes to the people.

LAHORE:

Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif on Saturday welcomed the reduction in the prices of petroleum products as a people-friendly initiative.

Sharif directed district officials to ensure that the benefit reached the people. He directed them to formulate a plan to provide immediate relief to the people. He said they should ensure that the plan was adhered to. The chief minister also instructed them to take immediate steps to reduce the price of basic necessities including fruits and vegetables. Sharif said a comprehensive strategy should be formulated to reduce transport fares.

He said it should be effectively implemented. Sharif said it was binding on officials to ensure that the benefits of the reduction in the price of petrol reached consumers.

Sharif directed the inspector general and the labour secretary to ensure the availability of petrol at filling stations. He instructed them to constitute special teams to verify this. The chief minister said no tolerance should be shown to station proprietors found guilty of fleecing the people. He said the departments should remain vigilant and submit daily reports in this regard. Sharif said they should ensure that there were no complaints of unavailability of petrol.

He said the credit for the decision to lower prices went to Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif as a marked decrease in the price of petroleum products had been witnessed for the first time in the history of the nation.

Sharif said the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz government had cemented its people-friendly credentials with the decision. He said the initiative would directly benefit the people. The chief minister said the government would continue to introduce people-friendly initiatives in the future.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 2^nd, 2014.