PESHAWAR: Owners of petrol pumps and dealers of petroleum products in Peshawar have warned of protest if the high-handedness of district authorities continued with respect to their businesses.
During a meeting with Sarhad Chamber of Commerce and Industry (SCCI) President Sherbaz Bilour at his office on Saturday, a delegation of Sarhad Petroleum and Cartage Association (SPCA) Khyber Pakhtunkhwa expressed annoyance at the imposition of heavy fines and harassment by district administration official in the pretext of violation of its orders regarding the ban on the sale of petrol to bikers without helmets and ones not wearing masks.
The delegation vowed that if the practice did not stop, they would resort to protest against the administration.
The delegation was represented by former SCCI president and SPCA patron-in-chief Engr Maqsood Anwar Pervaiz. Others in the delegation included office bearers Abdul Majeed, Hafizullah Marwat, Taimoor Zeb Khan, Mian Shafiq Ahmad, Bazadur Rehman among others.
The meeting was told that the decision of district authorities to ban the sale of petrol to bikers without helmets was not acceptable to them since it was hostile to their business. “This would create mistrust with the government and hurt our business,” the delegation said.
“It is the responsibility of traffic police, excise and other relevant departments to implement road safety rules. But it appears that the duty has been shifted from government officials to the business community, which is unacceptable to us,” the meeting participants said.
The meeting also condemned the increasing incidents of robberies and thefts at petrol pumps, demanding that steps be taken for the provision of security at gas stations.
Furthermore, the participants called upon the provincial government to take notice of the misconduct of district administration officials with the pump managers and staffers. They added that the quality of petrol should be checked and tested by authorities at the provincial level.
The speakers also expressed concerns over checking of cleanliness by the district administration at petrol pumps and requested that the quality checking of petrol should be carried out in presence of labour department and district administration officials. They further said that the traffic rules should be implemented through departments concerned instead of asking petrol pumps to enforce traffic laws.
Earlier, a meeting of Sarhad Chamber of Commerce and Industry Standing Committee on Petroleum announced the cabinet of SPCA KP which elected Engr Maqsood Anwar Pervaiz as patron-in-chief of the association. The meeting had announced Abdul Majeed as chairman of the association, Hafizullah Marwat as general secretary, Abid Khan as finance secretary, Bazadur Rehman as information secretary, among other members of the executive body of SPCA.
