PESHAWAR, April 1: The Sarhad Petroleum Cartage and Dealers Association, NWFP, has opposed the privatisation of Pakistan State Oil and stated its sale would cause massive unemployment in the country.

The chairman of the association, Mansoor Sharif, in a statement issued here on Sunday said that there was no justification to privatize such a lucrative company which was saving over Rs2 billion annually.

He said the decision had caused resentment among the company workers, and feared the situation after its privatisation would render thousands of workers jobless.

The chairman rejected management’s claim that the PSO had 3,700 retail outlets across the country, saying that over 95 per cent of the outlets were owned by the private sector. The company had no legal power to sell these stations, he added and opposed ban on old model oil carriages.