KARACHI, March 11: Dispute between the Pakistan State Oil and the All- Pakistan Oil Tankers Owners Association (APOTOA) arose again on Monday affecting the supply of petrol and oil to upcountry.
Earlier in the day, tanker-owners parked their tankers on roads near the PSO installation and tried to block roads. Police and personnel of other law- enforcement agencies were deployed in large numbers and they removed the tankers from the roads. However, tankers were still parked in the area and negotiations between the management of the PSO and the APOTOA was in progress when this report was filed.
A PSO spokesman, however, claimed that supply of petroleum was not affected. Negotiations were also in progress.
The PSO had to suspend the supply of petroleum following a strike by the APOTOA on Feb 20.
The management of the state-run oil company and representatives of APOTOA held talks to resolve the issue a day before Eidul Azha at the Keamari Town Police Officer’s office. Supply resumed after the talks and it was decided that the matter would be resolved through talks in a week.
The dispute between the oil tankers’ contractors and the PSO management arose after the PSO invited pre-qualification tenders in accordance with international standards meeting the requirements of Health, Safety & Environment specification. Matriculation qualification for tanker drivers was also made mandatory, which irritated the APOTOA as they claimed that most of the drivers were illiterate, so this condition would mean a major problem for them.
Among other things, APOTOA’s demands included withdrawal of the pre- qualification tender. But the PSO management refused to accept the demands following which the APOTOA took to protest.
A spokesman for the PSO said on Monday the PSO would not compromise its firm commitment to quality supplies and take all necessary steps to maintain supplies.
In a press release, he said a similar attempt by the same group of truckers to create problems for the PSO just before Eidul Azha had proved futile as a sizable number of cartage contractors had sided with the oil marketing company.
He said the company also sought full adoption of “health, safety and environmental” standards not only at its retail outlets but also by all its cartage contractors. The company also required courteous, polite and well- trained contractors for the job.
Sources in the PSO said most of the contractors had built secret chambers in tank lorries to steal petroleum products. These chambers were created when the tank lorries were being built. They said it was impossible for the PSO to find all such trucks with secret built-in chambers. Highly advanced X-ray technology was needed to detect concealed chambers, which was not available in the country.
The sources said, the PSO had unearthed several incidents with photographs to prove such thefts. These drivers had been stealing POL over the years and submitting bills for the whole amount.