Strike at CNG filling stations from Aug 1

CNG pump owners stuck to their guns on going for the strike from August 1 as yesterday's talks between the government and CNG association ended inconclusively.
"The talks have failed…. We have stuck to our position and we'll observe strike at our pumps as announced before. No CNG pump will operate from August 1 unless our six-point demands are met," Zakir Hossain Nayon, general secretary of Bangladesh CNG Filling Station & Conversion Workshop Owners Association, told reporters after a meeting in energy ministry.
The energy ministry invited the CNG pump owners to sit with the government to discuss their demands in order to avert the strike.
Energy Secretary Mohammad Mohsin chaired the meeting while officials of Rupantarita Prakritik Gas Company Limited, the licensing authority of CNG pump and conversion business, were present.
The association leaders said that the energy secretary offered them to appeal to Bangladesh Energy Regulatory Commission (BERC) to reduce the CNG tariffs.
"But, we've rejected the proposal as we think it does not require any BERC nod to decrease the prices. Only a government notification is good enough to reduce the price. BERC nod is required only in that case when the government moves to increase the price," a leader of the CNG association told UNB.
Sources said that the energy secretary requested the CNG pump owners to call off the planned strike. The pump owners would not keep the request.
Finally, the energy secretary told the association leader that he would convey their position to the state minister and the prime minister about the six-point demands.