Petrol pumps on 9-hour strike

Owners and workers of refuelling stations went on a nine-hour work abstention this morning to press home their 12-point demands including raising sales commission and checking incessant hike in road rentals.

Today’s strike started from 6:00am, which will continue till 3:00pm, Mohammad Nazmul Hoque, convener of Bangladesh Petrol Pump O Tank Lorry Malik Shramik Oikya Parishad, confirmed today.

Hoque announced the strike on August 20 at a press conference.

In the last couple of years, the association repeatedly appealed to the government bodies concerned for holding talks over their problems, but the authorities paid no heed, the convener said earlier.

As per rules, all the petrol pumps have to pay a particular amount of rental fees to the Roads and Highways Department (RHD) for using space that connects the pump and the road.

The rent fees are set on the basis of the volume of space. The government has recently issued a gazette notification that raised the rental fees “abnormally”, the association said.