ISLAMABAD: A week into the debilitating fuel shortage distressing the Punjab province, Minister for Petroleum Shahid Khaqan Abbasi on Monday said he was ashamed on behalf of the government that the crisis has been allowed to continue.
At a press conference in Islamabad, Abbasi said that he apologised for the fact that no one was being held responsible for the crisis.
The minister said that oil supply has been increased by 30 per cent throughout the country.
“Supply has increased by 50 per cent in Islamabad and Rawalpindi and 100 per cent in Lahore,” Abassi said during his briefing.
“CNG supply has been restored in Lahore and Karachi so that pressure can be removed from petrol stations,” he said.
The petroleum minister expressed optimism that the energy crisis would be resolved within a week. He also said that petroleum prices will be further reduced in the country in February.
Earlier today, Abbasi and other high-ranking officials participated in a meeting on the petroleum crisis which took place at the Prime Minister’s House in the federal capital.
Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif had chaired the high-level meeting.
Besides Abbasi, Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif, Minister for Finance Ishaq Dar and Minister for Defence Khawaja Asif also attended the meeting.
During the meeting, Abbasi briefed the participants on the reasons behind the acute shortage of petrol, and also highlighted the steps undertaken to overcome it.
The premier expressed strong displeasure over the crisis and directed the officials present at the meeting to fix the matter.
Last week, the petrol crisis in Punjab had taken a turn for the worse as an increasing number of petrol pumps dried up and hundreds queued up outside fuel stations in various cities.
Frustrated citizens in Lahore, Faisalabad, Islamabad, Sialkot and Multan spent Sunday queuing up at the handful of petrol pumps open in the respective cities, with some saying they had been there overnight without any respite.
The shortage of fuel has affected emergency healthcare services and public transporters as ambulances and buses are idle due to a lack of fuel.
http://newspak.net/petroleum-minister-apologises-fuel-crisis/
