Islamabad: Petrol dealers, who had come under severe criticism for alleged shortening of diesel in various parts of the country, warned that they could go on a nationwide strike if the unwarranted public wrath went unaddressed.
The information secretary of the All Petroleum Dealers Association, Nauman Ali Butt, held a press conference where he claimed that the shortage of diesel was not caused by local petrol dealers rather international and local companies were involved in the crisis. He regretted that the people were wrong in casting their suspicions over petrol dealers.
Highlighting the shortage of diesel in some parts of Punjab, the information secretary claimed that the association had been trying to talk to the OGRA about the issue.
“If there is a day diesel stock for 21 days in the country, why is it absent from the petrol pumps?” the information secretary asked. “We are being accused that dealers have stopped the goods.”
Power crisis
On Wednesday, the Senate Standing Committee on Power expressed strong displeasure over unscheduled load-shedding hitting various parts of the country amid record-breaking temperatures, questioning what was causing the frequent power outages if there was a surplus of power in the country.
The chairman of the panel, Saifullah Abro, demanded explanations from the Power Division. He further asked why was the load-shedding taking place across the country.
The panel was informed that the electricity demand increased by 38 per cent in April compared to the previous year.
The Committee was informed that country’s power generation capacity was about 38,000 megawatts, but due to non-supply of fuel and RLNG, many power generation plants have been shut down.
“The country’s current power generation was about 18,500 megawatts,” the additional secretary Power Division told the Committee.
The chairman of the Standing Committee said that while procuring RLNG, care should be taken to deal with suppliers who did not default when there was a price hike, adding that the amount of performance guarantee should be such that the supplier could not default.
