APOTA Chairperson Akram Durrani told Business Recorder that the association had called off the strike on the assurance of Governor Sindh Muhammad Zubair that he (Governor) would take a personal interest in resolving the issues of the oil tankers. A scheduled meeting between APOTA and Dr Miftah Ismail could not be held on Tuesday.
The deadlock between National Highway Authority (NHA), Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (Ogra) and the APOTA still persist, however, the association has agreed to resolve the issue through talks, Chairman said.
Last month, after the oil tankers strike, it was agreed that APOTA will hold talks with NHA and Ogra for the resolution of the issues faced by the oil tankers operators. "No one is ready to listen to us, neither Ogra nor NHA. The government is not ready to provide relief to the oil tankers and wants us to modify our fleet overnight which is not possible," he said.
The government wants the up-gradation of tankers in one go but there are around 11,000 tankers and the association has told the government that it is not possible to upgrade all of them within days. "The price of an oil tanker is Rs 19 million which meets the requirement and safety standards set by Ogra and NHA. Therefore, the association is asking for some relief," he said.
In July, tankers association observed three-day countrywide strike in protest at the implementation of 2009 safety rules imposed by Ogra. On July 24, Ogra began inspecting tankers in use by oil marketing companies to reduce the frequent accidents attributed to substandard tankers. According to Ogra, around 40 percent of oil tankers are substandard and do not fulfill the set criteria. Besides Ogra regulations, the representatives of the oil tanker associations were also critical of Motorway and NHA police treatment and accused them of highhandedness.
The association presented a demand list to the government which includes delaying the up-gradation of tankers, the increase in freight rate, abolition of National Logistic Cell (NLC) from the oil transportation business and decrease of explosive permit rate etc.
In a fresh move, the government has decided to lay down the underground white oil pipeline starting from Macheki to Tamujabba (Peshawar) that will transport motor gasoline and diesel to up-country areas with a view to averting incidents on the roads and oil tankers strikes.
The Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Resources has prepared a summary for the approval of Economic Coordination Committee of the Cabinet. This will be the second white oil pipeline in the country as the first one was laid down from Karachi to Kot Addu-Pak-Arab Refinery Company (Parco).
Copyright Business Recorder, 2017