The Pakistan Petroleum Dealers Association (PPDA) on Tuesday issued a 72-hour ultimatum to the government to fulfill promises made by Petroleum Minister Ali Pervaiz Malik to resolve their issues, especially with regards to increasing their margin to 8% on the retail price of petrol, as a goods transporters strike continues over similar concerns.
Addressing a press conference, senior office-bearers of the PPDA warned they would shut down petrol pumps nationwide from 6 a.m. on Aug. 15 (Saturday) if the government failed to meet its demands. They further said the strike would continue indefinitely until the demands are met.
PPDA Chairman Malik Khuda Bakhsh said petroleum dealers cannot continue their businesses if the government refuses to accept their demands. He said the latest demand for 8% margin was jointly decided in a meeting of dealers from across the country, adding more than 14,000 members were pressuring the association to take action.
According to Bakhsh, he had informed the petroleum minister on Aug. 7 of mounting concerns from dealers regarding their unresolved issues. He noted the dealers had threatened a similar strike last month and been assured their issues would be addressed within two weeks. Criticizing the daily price mechanism introduced and implemented by Malik, he said it had created serious operational and financial challenges for petroleum dealers, resulting in inventory losses, erosion of working capital and substantial financial strain on the retail sector.
Goods transporters
Also on Tuesday, ongoing negotiations between the government and the All Pakistan Goods Transport Alliance (APGTA) to end their protest ended on deadlock, with group President Malik Shehzad Awan saying there has been no concrete progress thus far.
Awan’s remarks ran counter to a statement issued by Communications Minister Abdul Aleem Khan, who has been negotiating with the transporters to call off their strike. According to the statement, the talks had yielded a joint monitoring committee comprising Customs authorities and goods transporters to resolve all pending concerns.
Per the statement, the APGTA backed the minister’s proposal for a uniform axle load policy, while Maritime Affairs Minister Junaid Anwar assured them of immediate and full cooperation on maritime-related matters.
A spokesman of the APGTA told media they would continue negotiations with the government but would not call off their strike until their demands were accepted and formally notified. The transporters are demanding effective and uniform implementation of the legally prescribed axle-load limit, relief in taxes, monthly revision in diesel prices instead of daily changes and resolution of other issues.