PESHAWAR, Feb 21: The diesel and petrol supply to a number of retail outlets in the province was affected to a great extent as the All Pakistan Oil Tankers Owners’ Association, Peshawar chapter, joined the strike on Thursday amid reports that the strike was called off following PSO-APOTOA talks in Karachi.
The oil supply from the PSO Tarujabba depot near Peshawar was badly affected as the private tankers owners and drivers suspended transportation of petroleum products to petrol pumps to press for the acceptance of their demands.
The PSO divisional manager Khalid Khan told Dawn that there was no strike and the oil supply to the retail outlets in the province was continuing smoothly. He declined to comment any further on the row between the PSO and APOTOA.
The office-bearers of the APOTOA at a meeting held at Tarujabba on Wednesday evening decided to join the strike.
The main demands of the APOTOA relate to the waiving-off of the PSO condition that the drivers of oil tankers must at least be matriculate and the withdrawing of a pre-qualification tender floated by the state-run oil giant requiring the private carriage contractors to meet the international specification of health, safety and environment.
The APOTOA president Haji Mohammad Ayub told Dawn that it seemed that the oil company had decided to relieve the private contractors and arrange for its own tankers to supply petroleum products to its retail outlets in the country.
He said the APOTOA would continue to oppose the decisions as the private tanker contractors had served the company for the last more than 40 years. The PSO officials have received kickbacks in awarding the contract to bidders of their choice, he alleged.
Haji Ayub said the PSO had brought two of its tankers to the Tarujabba oil depot to continue its products’ supply to its petrol pumps. He said the association had warned the authorities concerned that the dispute might take a nasty turn if the PSO went ahead with the idea of its own tankers and did not withdraw the pre-qualification tender or the condition of matriculation for the drivers.
All the responsibility would rest with the PSO authorities if anything untoward happened to the PSO oil tankers and their staff, stated an APOTOA Press release.
The supply position at some of the PSO petrol pumps in Peshawar declined to a great extent as the APOTOA has blocked the carriage of petrol and diesel to the retail outlets since Monday last, motorists complained.
The situation might turn bad if the issue was not resolved amicably, official sources feared.
A PSO petrol pump manager, talking to Dawn, said he had ordered for fresh supply for Thursday morning, adding that the tanker had not arrived in time. It might be due to the strike, he concluded.