Reports coming out of Port Harcourt, Rivers state capital, inform that commuters and business owners are facing hard times following the industrial action embarked upon by the National Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas, NUPENG, and Petroleum Tanker Divers, PTD, Port Harcourt Unit.
According to P.M NEWS report, NUPENG in Rivers state started its strike last Thursday in protest against the deplorable condition of the Port Harcourt Eleme-Onne federal road, the only accessible road to the refineries and petrol tank farms near the state capital.
It was gathered that the last time repairs were done on the road by the Federal Road Maintenance Agency, FERMA, was when the wife of the president, Mrs Patience Jonathan, buried her step mother in her hometown in Okrika last year.
To carry out their protest, tanker drivers blocked the refinery, depots and private tank farms in the state, making it impossible for dealers to buy from them.
The strike however has caused artificial scarcity and long queues in the few filling stations that have the products.
File photo of fuel queue.
A check at various petrol stations in Port Harcourt on Thursday, 9 October, 2014, revealed that a litre of DPK now goes for N140 while a litre of petrol goes for N120 as against the usual N97. Some drivers, who spoke to newsmen on their frustrations, lamented that the products are not available at filling stations, noting that, the few stations selling petrol have long queues.
A fallen truck on Eleme-Onne Ogoni Road Cletus Nwato alleged that most of the petrol stations have begun to hoard their products preferring to sell to the black markets for higher profit.
Speaking on the scarcity of fuel as a result of the ongoing strike, the Chairman of NUPENG in Port Harcourt, Godwin Eruba, said that the situation would remain as long as the Eleme-Onne road remains in such poor condition.
He said that the strike is also for the safety of both the tanker drivers and other road users because when a loaded tanker falls it spills it highly inflammable content that could cause loss of lives and property.
Meanwhile, a tanker driver, Molekwu Obinna, recounted how a colleague lost 33,000 liters of fuel valued at N3.9 million on the road when his tanker fell and the products spilled off.
“On daily basis, our trucks get damaged”, he said, adding that, on more than one occasion, both products and vehicle go in flames as a result of the bad road”.
Meanwhile, the Commissioner for Petroleum and Solid Minerals, Abia State, Chief Don Ubani, has appealed to residents of the state to exercise patience as efforts were being intensified to resolve the cause of the current fuel scarcity taking a toll on the people.
According to a text message Ubani sent to PUNCH, he said that“the cause of the fuel scarcity was the strike action by Petroleum Tanker Drivers in Eastern Zone comprising Port Harcourt , Aba and Calabar.
” The commissioner added that the tanker drivers were “protesting the poor state of roads in the zone which has been affecting their operations.
” He expressed confidence that“the matter will soon be over as their grievance is being looked into by the appropriate authority,”while appealing to members of the public to exercise patience.
According to P.M NEWS report, NUPENG in Rivers state started its strike last Thursday in protest against the deplorable condition of the Port Harcourt Eleme-Onne federal road, the only accessible road to the refineries and petrol tank farms near the state capital.
It was gathered that the last time repairs were done on the road by the Federal Road Maintenance Agency, FERMA, was when the wife of the president, Mrs Patience Jonathan, buried her step mother in her hometown in Okrika last year.
To carry out their protest, tanker drivers blocked the refinery, depots and private tank farms in the state, making it impossible for dealers to buy from them.
The strike however has caused artificial scarcity and long queues in the few filling stations that have the products.
File photo of fuel queue.
A check at various petrol stations in Port Harcourt on Thursday, 9 October, 2014, revealed that a litre of DPK now goes for N140 while a litre of petrol goes for N120 as against the usual N97. Some drivers, who spoke to newsmen on their frustrations, lamented that the products are not available at filling stations, noting that, the few stations selling petrol have long queues.
A fallen truck on Eleme-Onne Ogoni Road Cletus Nwato alleged that most of the petrol stations have begun to hoard their products preferring to sell to the black markets for higher profit.
Speaking on the scarcity of fuel as a result of the ongoing strike, the Chairman of NUPENG in Port Harcourt, Godwin Eruba, said that the situation would remain as long as the Eleme-Onne road remains in such poor condition.
He said that the strike is also for the safety of both the tanker drivers and other road users because when a loaded tanker falls it spills it highly inflammable content that could cause loss of lives and property.
Meanwhile, a tanker driver, Molekwu Obinna, recounted how a colleague lost 33,000 liters of fuel valued at N3.9 million on the road when his tanker fell and the products spilled off.
“On daily basis, our trucks get damaged”, he said, adding that, on more than one occasion, both products and vehicle go in flames as a result of the bad road”.
Meanwhile, the Commissioner for Petroleum and Solid Minerals, Abia State, Chief Don Ubani, has appealed to residents of the state to exercise patience as efforts were being intensified to resolve the cause of the current fuel scarcity taking a toll on the people.
According to a text message Ubani sent to PUNCH, he said that“the cause of the fuel scarcity was the strike action by Petroleum Tanker Drivers in Eastern Zone comprising Port Harcourt , Aba and Calabar.
” The commissioner added that the tanker drivers were “protesting the poor state of roads in the zone which has been affecting their operations.
” He expressed confidence that“the matter will soon be over as their grievance is being looked into by the appropriate authority,”while appealing to members of the public to exercise patience.
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