KARACHI, March 4: Transporters on Saturday welcomed the decision to authorize the Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority for determining oil prices and expressed hope that the Ogra would not follow the footsteps of the Oil Companies Advisory Committee.

The decision was welcomed at a meeting of transporters, chaired by Karachi Transport Ittehad chief Irshad Hussain Bukhari. It was observed that people and transporters of Karachi had waged a long struggle to get rid of the atrocities of the OCAC.

They said that it was the OCAC that opened the floodgates of general price hike in the country by raising prices of petrol and diesel by Rs16.79 and Rs11.22 per litre, respectively, in just one year, from January 2005 to December 2005.

Transporters said that the OCAC was not an autonomous body, but instead “backed by decisions of the federal government”. They said that now by authorizing the Orga to determine the fuel prices, both public and transporters were pacified. They said that both the people and transporters were waiting to see what role Orga plays. They warned that if the Ogra followed the suite of the OCAC, the transporters would again strongly protest and not hesitate from calling strikes.

They said that prior to the setting up of OCAC, the prices of oil had been determined on the occasion of annual budget, and sometimes remained unchanged for three to four years. 

Meanwhile, ex-chairman Korangi Association of Trade & Industry and member Federation of Pakistan Chambers of Commerce & Industry Shaikh Manzar Alam welcomed the government decision to confer power of fixing petroleum prices on Oil & Gas Regulatory Authority and stressed need for containing increase in prices of POL products.

Manzar Alam said that variations in international prices of petroleum products in the past had trickled down effects domestically, but in recent times it had not been the case.

Stressing the need for sustaining POL prices, he asked government to explore alternative sources of energy and formulate a comprehensive policy for the purpose.—PPI