And we are at it again. Another ‘vital’ item disappears. And no, it wasn’t the work of any magician with a wand. It was the hoarders, who do what they are best at – make a sought-after commodity vanish.
So the news is that many cities in the populous Punjab province are in the grip of petrol shortage. The fuel stations have gone dry out of nowhere.
There had been fears that the country might face fuel shortage this month as private banks were refusing to open letters of credit.
The Oil Companies Advisory Council, representing refining, pipeline and marketing companies had flagged that delays in the opening of LCs could “lead to a fuel shortage in the country”.
In anticipation of a shortage of petroleum products, the oil marketing companies (OMCs) have squeezed the supply and the rest is in front of everyone.
People were seen scurrying from one pump to another, looking for petrol. And wherever they went, the answer was no. The citizens highlighted their grievances on social media and raised their voices against the artificial shortage that was being created.
The worst affected cities were Lahore, Gujranwala and Faisalabad where many fuel stations had no petrol.
According to the Pakistan Petroleum Dealers Association Information Secretary Khawaja Atif, about 70 pumps out of 450 in Lahore have run dry, with the worst affected areas being Shahdara, Wagah, Litton Road and Jain Mandir.
He further said that 70 per cent of the pumps in Gujranwala did not have petrol. A similar situation existed in Faisalabad, Okara, Sahiwal, Khanewal, Sialkot and several major and small cities of Punjab.
The seriousness of the situation can be gauged from the fact that Minister of State for Petroleum Dr Musadik Malik had to address a press conference and assure everyone that the country had sufficient fuel supplies and warned hoarders of dire consequences.
“Some people, like always, are hoarding… I want to request those people to stop today and consider this request a warning… you won’t be able to hoard and rob the people’s rights,” the minister said, warning that the hoarders’ licenses would be cancelled.
He dispelled the impression that the country had a limited supply of petrol and diesel, saying that petrol stocks were sufficient for the next 20 days and diesel for the next 29 days.
The minister said prices of petrol were raised according to schedule, keeping the dollar-rupee difference and rates in the international market in mind.
Given the prevailing situation, the Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority wrote a letter to the Punjab chief secretary, asking him to take action against those hoarding petrol and diesel stocks. It even pointed to locations in Punjab that might be used to dump petroleum products.
Dr Musadik Malik did the right thing. By coming on media, he had given out an assurance that sufficient stocks of petroleum products were available and at the same time gave a stern warning to hoarders.
The government should take action against those petrol stations that have been turning back citizens. Cancel their licenses to teach them a lesson.
