Petroleum transporters have threatened to cut petroleum supplies throughout Pakistan and have declared an indefinite peaceful protest and sit-in outside the headquarters of a national oil marketing firm.
“We have given a call for an indefinite peaceful protest,” Israr Ahmed Shinwari, a spokesman for the All Pakistan Oil Tankers Owners Association (APOTOA), told Express Tribune.
“We will call off the protest only after the government accepts our demands and increase fares of fuel transportation that have remained unchanged since 2011,” he continued.
Approximately 40,000 oil tankers deliver oil from Karachi to upcountry destinations. “Our 40,000 members are part of the protest,” Shinwari said and added, “If the government failed to accept our demands within a week of protest, then we will give a call for a wheel-jam strike”.
Truck owners and the concerned oil marketing firm had agreed that the rates would be adjusted to reflect current gasoline and diesel prices, but the company had ignored the agreement.
The APOTOA has compiled a list of 20 demands to present to the government under the auspices of the Oil Tankers Owners Grand Committee, but the oil transporters have been unable to contact government officials.
“Police officials have approached us to call off the protest so that they (police) could connect us with the officials concerned,” Shinwari claimed and added, “However, we have refused to withdraw the protest call”.
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