All Pakistan Oil Tankers Owners Association (APOTOA) called off the August 21 strike after a delegation of its office bearers called on Sindh Governor Mohammad Zubair on Sunday night. The Sindh Governor assured the delegation that he would play his role in sorting out their demands. After Governor's assurance, the association announced to call-off the strike.
The AOTOA's negotiations with the Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (Ogra) regarding implementation on the 'high safety standards' had failed. Before that meeting, Mir Shams Shahwani, senior vice chairman APOTOA told the Business Recorder that they would call off the August 21 strike if their grievances would be addressed by the Governor at the meeting. He said that the decision to observe strike was made unanimously by oil tanker owners from all the four provinces of the country, unanimously.
He said earlier negotiations with the Ogra over very high standard safety rules failed because new standards were too expensive to be implemented in the country where roads are in a dilapidated condition. "The regulator is forcing us to convert the two-axle vehicles into three axles which is much expensive as conversion of a two-axle tanker into three-axle will cost us almost a million rupees," he said, adding that they had got some 25,000 tankers registered with the Pakistan State Oil (PSO) across the country.
He said that it would take almost 5 to 10 years to come up to the required standard.
The Ogra enforced the 2009 safety rules after the Ahmadpur Sharqia oil tanker mishap in the July last that left more than 200 people dead and several others injured. On the other hand the Ogra officials maintained that oil tankers owners have to follow the safety regulations that were introduced to avoid any kind of mishap, and ensure protection of human lives and wealth. Reports had it that some 85 percent oil tankers are presently not meeting the safety standards posing a serious threat to human lives.
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