The Transport strike which started from October 5 has now entered into 14th day, and there has been no lifting of edible oils from Karachi Port and Port Qasim due to some dispute between Association of Ghee Manufacturers and the Transporters. This is the second time that the dispute arose within a span of six months.
The strike has caused complete standstill of supply of edible oils from the port areas to the Ghee industries. There has been shortage of Ghee and cooking oil particularly in the upcountry because of this strike and will affect industry as well as consumers as there was huge demand because of upcoming Eid-ul-Azha.
The road tankers are not lifting the oil from the terminals in spite of the fact that their matter with the Pakistan Vanaspati Manufacturers Association (PVMA) has been resolved and agreement has been signed. Every day quantity of around 6000 M Tons is lifted from both the ports. However, for the last 14 days there has been no lifting and the solution is also not visible.
The Ghee manufacturers have approached the Karachi Administration as well for the resolution of the matter and to provide security, however, so far nothing tangible has come up. It is reported that most of the Ghee factories do not have raw material and if the transport strike continues, Ghee prices will go up considerably which will affect the common man.
Though agreement was signed between PVMA and Transporters on October 15, however, for the last four days after the resolution of matter with PVMA, transporters are not lifting the oil mainly because of their internal differences. Out of the chaos, the main sufferer is the common man and the intervention of the Government is yet awaited.
Comments
Comments are closed.