Countrywide strike: Govt to hold talks with OTCA, OCAC representatives today

ISLAMABAD: The newly-appointed secretary petroleum has scheduled a meeting with the representatives of the Oil Tankers Contractors Associations (OTCA) and the Oil Companies Advisory Council (OCAC) for Wednesday to avoid shortage of petroleum products in the country.

The Oil Tankers Association called a strike demanding a fair share in the white pipeline project - Karachi’s Keamari to Mehmoodkot in Punjab - to avoid financial losses to their businesses.

The White Oil Pipeline project, inaugurated in 2005 aims to ensure smooth transportation, reducing the traffic congestion caused by approximately 4,000 oil trucks and address environmental impacts.

Pak-Arab Pipeline Companies Limited (PAPCO) initiated the project.

On Monday, the OCAC expressing their concerns in a letter written to the Petroleum Ministry, stated that the ongoing strike by oil transporters had resulted in a significant disruption in operations and distribution of petroleum products across the country. “We request your immediate intervention in this matter and further request you to intimate the Chief Secretary of respective provinces to take prompt action to ensure the uninterrupted loading of tank lorries at the depots,” it stated.

The oil transporters association said its members would continue their strike until they got a fair share. They should be given 50 percent quota in White Pipeline and 50 percent quota for oil supply through road. The association further demanded the potential idling of their modern vehicles and the risk of job losses among their workforce.

The association stopped the supply of petrol in Rawalpindi spreading fears of petrol shortage in Azad Kashmir, airports, Hazara Division, Attock, and Gilgit-Baltistan.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2023