Sources in OGRA blame Finance Minister Ishaq Dar for fuelling petrol crisis ‘by not allowing PSO to make payments to its international suppliers last year’
Misery continued for the motorists of twin cities of Rawalpindi and Islamabad for the fifth consecutive day on Saturday as the petrol crisis worsened.
Talking to Pakistan Today, sources in the Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (OGRA) said that Finance Minister Ishaq Dar was responsible for the fuel crises as he “did not allow PSO to make oil payments to its international supplier last year”.
In Rawalpindi, majority of the fuel stations remained closed whereas in the Federal Capital City, 80 percent petrol pumps suspended the sale of petrol. Taking advantage of the situation, profiteers also sold petrol on high rates, as several people resorted to buying petrol at a high price in order to avoid waiting in the long queues witnessed at filling stations.
After a thorough survey of the twin cities, Pakistan Today learnt that owners of around two dozen fuel stations sought police help after minor clashes that broke out as the motorists were not ready to leave when they were informed that the stations had run out of stock.
“If they had no fuel, why did they keep me waiting in the queue for over three hours,” said a citizen Ghaffar Khan, when the policeman tried to persuade him not to get into a conflict with the petrol stations’ management.
Some motorists also complained that filling stations were selling fuel for as high as Rs 100 per liter.
“The staff at filling stations is obliging their friends and families and giving gallons of petrol to them out of turn,” alleged an angered citizen Ali Farhan who got in to a scuffle with the filling station management over this issue.
In posh areas of Islamabad, some filling station owners even sold petrol to “selected consumers” at the rate of Rs 200 to Rs 300 for each motorbike and up to Rs 1,000 to Rs 1,500 for each car due to the limited stock.
In lieu of the petrol shortage, the government announced provision of CNG to citizens of Lahore but in the twin cities, fuel crises could not be resolved and queues at petrol pumps have broken the records of the long queues seen in past at CNG stations.
“I had to wait for two hours in the line but when my turn arrived, the filling station staff told me that the station has run out of schedule,” said commuter Nauman Shoukat at PSO filling station in Sector F-6 Islamabad while talking to Pakistan Today.
Sohail Ahmed, a doctor at a private hospital, said that the government has totally failed to provide any kind of facility to masses. “There is no electricity, no gas and no CNG available already. Now, there is no petrol available either.”
Moreover, many hot debates erupted on social media over the petrol crisis.
Topping the list of hash tags in Pakistan Trends was #NawazPetrolDonoGhayab with several people tweeting that there should be a “military filling station” to overcome the fuel crunch.
