KARACHI: Local transporters of petroleum products on Thursday announced an indefinite strike after a tax increase in the country’s budget, disrupting 80 percent of supplies from Pakistan’s port city of Karachi and generating fears of a nationwide shortage of petrol and diesel in the coming days.
“The government has increased the withholding tax from 2.5 percent to 3.5 percent which is not viable for our business,” Israr Ahmed Shinwari of the All Pakistan Oil Tankers Owners Association told Arab News.
“They are also changing the 40-year-old loading system that operated on the first-come-first-served basis,” he continued. “This will not only allow companies to monopolize the business but also deprive about 400 people of their jobs.”
Shinwari confirmed that oil supplies from Karachi had been suspended and more than 10,000 tankers were taken off the city's roads.
“The supplies in other parts of country are continuing as per routine,” he informed. “If our demands are not met, however, we will go on a nationwide strike and take more than 42,000 vehicles off the country’s roads.”
Abidullah Afridi, president of the All Pakistan Oil Tankers Contractors Association which originally gave the strike call, told Arab News that around 1,500 tankers were loaded in Karachi on a daily basis for the city and upcountry, adding that all of them had been parked by their owners to protest the government’s measures.
“We will not back off until our demands are met,” he maintained.
Shinwari confirmed the government had invited local transporters for talks in Islamabad on Friday.
If the strike continues in the coming days, it will create an acute fuel shortage in the country.
Petroleum dealers said on Thursday they had only received about 20 percent of supplies, though they added that their available stocks had so far prevented a crisis.
“We have received around 20 percent supplies through tankers which were loaded a day before and overnight,” Abdul Sami Khan, chairman of the Pakistan Petroleum Dealers Association, told Arab News.
“We have managed the situation by using our available stocks,” he continued. “We hope that a way out will soon be found or else we will have to shut down our petrol pumps.”
Meanwhile, officials of the Pakistan State Oil, a state-owned entity responsible for marketing and distribution of petroleum products, denied any supply disruption due to the strike.
They said that alternative measures would be taken to ensure smooth supplies in the coming days.
So far, the oil supplies have not been fully disrupted since a faction of transporters belonging to the Oil Tankers Owners Association has distanced itself from the protest.
“In the current economic situation, the strike is not in the interest of the country and economy, so we have decided to stay away from it,” Haji Hanif Kakar, the association’s general secretary, said.
Local transporters' strike over tax hike raises fear of Pakistan-wide fuel shortages
https://arab.news/6rc99
Local transporters' strike over tax hike raises fear of Pakistan-wide fuel shortages
- Oil transporters are also protesting a proposed change in the loading system, saying it will help companies monopolize the business
- The government has invited transporters of petroleum products for talks in Islamabad on Friday
Saudi Arabia condemns separatist attacks in Pakistan’s Balochistan
- Kingdom says it stands with Pakistan as security forces kill 92 militants in counteroffensive
- Attacks hit multiple districts including Quetta and Gwadar, killing civilians and security personnel
ISLAMABAD: Saudi Arabia on Saturday condemned separatist attacks in Pakistan’s southwestern Balochistan province, expressing solidarity with Islamabad after a wave of coordinated violence killed civilians and security personnel across multiple districts.
In a statement cited by the Saudi ambassador to Pakistan, Nawaf bin Said Al-Malki, the Kingdom said it rejected violence in all its forms and stood with Pakistan as its security forces responded to the attacks.
“The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia strongly condemns the attacks carried out by separatist elements in various areas of Pakistan’s Balochistan province,” he said in a social media message. “The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia renews its firm position rejecting all acts of terrorism and extremism.”
Pakistan’s military said on Saturday its forces killed 92 militants, including three suicide bombers, while repelling coordinated attacks across the southwestern province, following assaults that targeted civilians and law enforcement personnel in several towns, including Quetta, Gwadar, Mastung and Kharan.
The military said 18 civilians, including women and children, were killed in attacks on laborer families in Gwadar and Kharan, while 15 security personnel died during clearance operations and armed standoffs.
Saudi Arabia’s foreign ministry also conveyed condolences to the families of those killed and wished a speedy recovery to the injured, reaffirming its support for Pakistan’s efforts to safeguard stability and security.
Balochistan, which borders Iran and Afghanistan, has faced a decades-long separatist insurgency marked by attacks on security forces, infrastructure projects and civilians, as Pakistan steps up counter-militancy operations in the region.
