New Ogra safety rules: Oil tankers go on countrywide strike, stop oil supply

KARACHI: The All Pakistan Oil Tankers Owner Association (APOTOA) went on countrywide strike against checking and implementation of safety rules on Monday as the association’s chairman Mir Muhammad Yousaf Shahwani had announced it two days ago during a press conference at Karachi Press Club.

Due to the strike call, supply of oil from Keamari and Port Qasim and distribution remained nearly suspended throughout the country. Shahwani said the strike was not meant to serve any political cause but only to press for fulfillment of transporters demands.

At least 600 tankers at Port Qasim were halted and stopped from transporting oil to different parts of the country while 300 others put on a standstill at other locations. While the tanker owners staged protests in various cities and demanding the government to solve their problems.

In his press conference, Shahwani had accused the Motorway Police and traffic police officials of putting hurdles to their distribution process after the implementation of Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (Ogra) safety regulations. The association chairman was complaining that the oil tankers owners were being forced to spend one million rupees on each of their tankers in the light of the new Ogra safety regulations.

The owners were terming these regulations cruelty which have been implemented after Ahmadpur East oil tanker tragedy in Bahawalpur. More than 200 people including women and children were burnt alive in this incident.

The oil transporters said they would be on strike until their demands were fully met. According to the spokesperson of Petroleum Ministry there was no shortage of oil in the country as the current stock of petrol stands at 21,0000 metric tonnes. He added that four ships were available with 1 106 000 metric tonnes of petrol and over 4,00000 metric tonnes of diesel Pakistan Petroleum Dealers Association PPDA has also said that oil in sufficient quantity is present in reserves of fuel stations and the measures have been taken to avoid any inconvenience to the public.

In the past two month the country has witnessed at least 12 oil tanker accidents which took place in different parts of the country. As results hundreds of people have lost their lives and many of the injured are still under medical treatment. After these horrible accidents the motorway and traffic police have implemented on Ogra safety rules.

Oil transporters are not happy with these regulations and called it exploitation and they wanted to get rid of strict screening. They seemed feared of fulfilling the quality criteria. The oil tanker owners were claiming that Ogra and the Motorway Police were unfair to them.