LAHORE: The Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry urged the government to take immediate measures regarding supply of petroleum products whose shortage is not only damaging trade & economic activities but also hitting the general public hard.
In a statement LCCI President Ijaz A. Mumtaz said that fuel shortage has brought the vehicular traffic to a grinding halt in the province of Punjab. This province is hub of trade and economic activities and biggest contributor in GDP but Punjab is being hit by fuel shortage that would ultimately hit the national economy.
He said that businessmen are losing billions of rupees daily as movement of their finished goods and raw material is almost suspended due to non-availability of fuel but concerned departments were playing role of silent spectators and advising people to stay calm and wait for POL supply.
LCCI President said that main reason of POL shortage was circular debt of Pakistan State Oil that has been increased to over 200 billion reportedly and PSO does not have enough funds to buy POL products from refineries. He added that POL shortage has badly affected the daily wagers besides hitting the agriculture sector hard as high speed diesel was being used in the agriculture machinery and tubewells. He said that process of cultivation and irrigation through diesel-operated tubewells was about to be stopped.
LCCI President demanded of the government to release funds for PSO to ease the circular debt and make it able to purchase fuel. He demanded of the government to take corrective measures to curtail circular debt of PSO that had not only created fuel shortage crisis in the country but is also biggest reason of massive load shedding.
He said that ongoing fuel shortage had already caused heavy damage to the business activities therefore government should control the situation as soon as possible and take measures on war footing to restore fuel supply.
