New safety rules stir oil tanker owners

Published October 13, 2018
Karachi: A large number of oil tankers are parked near Shireen Jinnah Colony.—Online
Karachi: A large number of oil tankers are parked near Shireen Jinnah Colony.—Online

ISLAMABAD: The All Pakistan Oil Tanker Owners Association (APOTOA) on Friday announced to go on a countrywide strike against a recommendation of the Senate Standing Committee on Petroleum seeking immediate removal of unsafe tankers from roads.

Speaking at a news conference, APOTOA Chairman Mir Muhammad Yousaf Shahwani said the Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (Ogra) had set a deadline of September 2019 for the oil tanker owners to upgrade their fleets to its notified safety standards and road worthiness standards of the National Highway Authority (NHA).

The decision for the September 2019 deadline was taken after the Bahawalpur East tragedy — in which over 200 lives were lost — following a road accident and subsequent oil spill.

The chairman said tanker owners had reservations over the deadline because of manufacturing industry’s constraints to upgrade a fleet of over 32,000 tankers. The project involved Rs15 million investment per tanker against the existing cost of Rs5m.

Senate committee wants unsafe fuel vehicles off the roads immediately

He said that on the directives of the Senate body, Pakistan State Oil (PSO) issued an order on Oct 9 under which it stopped calibrating our oil tankers and asked us to secure compliance certificates from a third party.

The senate standing committee directed PSO to strictly follow the ‘queue system for tank lorries’ except in the case where vehicles are in dilapidated condition and that there should not be second queue. The committee also asked to ban all lorries which are in dilapidated condition by giving comprehensive reasons for this in writing.

Normally, OMCs calibrate tankers for a year. However, the PSO’s calibrated tankers – which still have a year’s time — have been barred from supplying the oil.

He alleged that a senator – who was a member of the said standing committee and operator of a tanker fleet – was aided by some others to secure an order from the body for his vested interests.

Mr Shahwani said the senator had brought his tankers carrying stickers of 350 horsepower which actually were of not that capacity. He said a lot of these tankers were earlier engaged in furnace oil supply that had turned surplus on previous government’s decision to shift power plants from furnace oil to imported LNG.

Legal adviser for APOTOA Advocate Naeem Haider said that for the last two years NHA had blocked oil tankers from passing tankers through Kohat tunnel by labeling them security risk. This is despite the fact that none of the APOTOA lorries ever faced any accident of terrorism or security lapse, he added.

He further said that there are 32,000 tankers working with the 47 OMCs, of which 8,500 oil tankers are attached with the PSO.

Published in Dawn, October 13th, 2018

Follow Dawn Business on Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram and Facebook for insights on business, finance and tech from Pakistan and across the world.

Opinion

Who bears the cost?

Who bears the cost?

This small window of low inflation should compel a rethink of how the authorities and employers understand the average household’s

Editorial

Internet restrictions
Updated 23 Dec, 2024

Internet restrictions

Notion that Pakistan enjoys unprecedented freedom of expression difficult to reconcile with the reality of restrictions.
Bangladesh reset
23 Dec, 2024

Bangladesh reset

THE vibes were positive during Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s recent meeting with Bangladesh interim leader Dr...
Leaving home
23 Dec, 2024

Leaving home

FROM asylum seekers to economic migrants, the continuing exodus from Pakistan shows mass disillusionment with the...
Military convictions
Updated 22 Dec, 2024

Military convictions

Pakistan’s democracy, still finding its feet, cannot afford such compromises on core democratic values.
Need for talks
22 Dec, 2024

Need for talks

FOR a long time now, the country has been in the grip of relentless political uncertainty, featuring the...
Vulnerable vaccinators
22 Dec, 2024

Vulnerable vaccinators

THE campaign to eradicate polio from Pakistan cannot succeed unless the safety of vaccinators and security personnel...