Accusing the police and Customs of extortion, the representatives of All Pakistan Oil Tankers Association (APOTA) on Wednesday said the federal and provincial governments were paying no attention to address their complaints.
Addressing a press conference at the National Press Club, APOTA Chairman Meer Muhammad Yousaf Shahwani said the provincial governments of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Punjab had adopted an unfair attitude towards them. The police was receiving Rs 30,000 as bribe from each tanker at various checkposts and the drivers were being tortured even in the holy month of Ramadan. He also alleged that the people affiliated with the government were bombing NATO tankers just to sell the oil in them and they used Taliban as a pretext to cover up their acts.
Shahwani told reporters that they had also written a letter to President Asif Ali Zardari, Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani and Interior Minister Rehman Malik but no attempt had been made to rectify the situation. He said over 1,000 oil tankers filled with fuel usually remained parked at Kemari in Karachi and the Customs officials were getting Rs 20,000 per tanker under the pretext of permit letter.
They urged the president and the prime minister to take notice of the issue and resolve their problems on a priority basis.
