Fuel strike postponed till Sept 30

A fuel strike, that caused immense public suffering, was postponed yesterday till September 30.

The 16-hour strike was called by a faction of the Bangladesh Petrol Pump Owners' Association (BPPOA).

Syed Sajjadul Karim Kabul, president of the faction, announced the postponement of the strike in a press conference after a meeting with Bangladesh Petroleum Corporation officials.

"As the talks went well, we postponed the nationwide strike," said Kabul, adding the government assured them that their demands would be met by September 30.

The strike was called with a three-point demand -- fixing the sales commission for pump owners at 7.5 percent per litre, setting the tank-lorry economic life to 50 years, and issuing a gazette notification recognising the pump owners as "commission agents".

Before the announcement, the energy division yesterday issued a gazette notification recognising pump owners as agents of BPC.

Meanwhile, the strike caught people off-guard. Long queues of vehicles were seen at fuel pumps across the country.

In the capital, most fuel stations were open in the morning and people could get fuel. But many of the stations ran dry as the day progressed.

Mohammad Nazmul Haque, president of another faction of BPPOA, said the situation arose because strikers were preventing fuel trucks from leaving the fuel depots across the country.

Bangladesh Tank-lorry Owners Association, Bangladesh Fuel Oil Distributors Association, Khulna Divisional Tank-lorry Sramik Union and Padma, Meghna and Jamuna Tank-lorry Sramik Kalyan Samity observed the strike for 16 hours.

In Khulna, strikers staged blockades at the three state-owned depots, cutting fuel supply in at least 14 districts of the division and the greater Faridpur area.

The Daily Star correspondents visited at least 13 petrol pumps in different areas of Dhaka and found only four pumps were selling fuel as usual.

Four other pumps were found selling fuel partially.

In Banasree, a sign hung in front of a petrol pump read "Octane stock out". However, the pump was selling other products. Till 12:00pm, this newspaper visited six refuelling stations in the Mohakhali, Tejgaon and Satrasta areas and found two were providing their usual services.

But later both the stations ran out of stock. Only diesel was available at one station.

Petrol pumps in Matsya Bhaban, Shahbag and Asadgate areas were found shut in the afternoon.

Palash Das, an employee of a private organisation, was seen waiting at Elina Oil Pump at Notunrasta More in Khulna. 

He said he rushed here knowing the news, but couldn't manage to refill his bike.

"I was supposed to go to my working station at Batiaghata which is 25 km away from here. Now, I have to take oil from the roadside shops at a higher rate," he added.

Meanwhile, over three hundred tank-lorry drivers were waiting at different parts of three state-owned oil depots --Padma, Meghna and Jamuna -- of the Khalishpur area in Khulna.

(Our Correspondent, Khulna contributed to this report)