The Bangladesh Petrol Pump Owners Association announced a strike for an indefinite period across the country starting today to press home their demands amid failed talks with authorities.
On Saturday night, the association’s president, Sazzad Karim, said that they announced the decision after their demands were not met by August 31.
The association since early August has been agitating for a 7.5 per cent commission on fuel oil sales, a gazette notification mentioning petrol pump owners as commission agents, a waiver of value added tax on truck-lorry fares, and a clear gazette on truck-lorries that have passed an economic life of 25 years.
Currently, petrol pump owners receive a 3.45 per cent commission on the sale of diesel and 4.57 per cent on petrol and octane, association leaders said.
Bangladesh Tank Lorry Owners’ Association and Bangladesh Petroleum Dealers Distributors Agents and Petrol Pump Owners Association announced an indefinite strike on August 1 on the same ground.
On August 27, the association threatened to go on an indefinite strike if their three-point demand was not met by August 31.
In a statement on August 31, the Bangladesh Petroleum Dealers, Distributors Agents, and Petrol Pump Owners Association said that they held a meeting with the state minister for power, energy, and mineral resources, Nasrul Hamid, on August 28.
A statement signed by the association’s acting secretary, Mir Ahsan Uddin Parvez, claimed that the minister assured them of accepting their demands by September 30.
However, the Petrol Pump Owners’ Association, a separate organisation, said in a statement on Saturday that they would observe a strike until their demands were met.
An official of the power, energy, and mineral resources ministry’s public relations wing, however, dismissed the threat, saying that petrol pump owners in Dhaka and Chattogram had assured them of not enforcing the strike.
The ministry official said that only a small group based in Khulna was trying to enforce the strike.
