KATHMANDU, April 2: Ending five days of deadlock, the government and agitating petroleum transporters and dealers Thursday agreed to sit for talks to discuss the demands.
The environment for talks materiallized after senior officials of Nepal Oil Corporation (NOC) held informal talks with officials of Nepal Petroleum Transporters’ Federation (NPTF), which is heading the strike, in Birgunj. The Ministry of Commerce and Supplies had also called on Nepal Petroleum Dealers’ Association (NPDA) office bearers to sit for talks.
NPTF is demanding that the corporation not displace the old tankers and not add new tankers for transporting fuel. The corporation had tagged the demands as counter to the norms of fairness in business, and refused to negotiate.
NPDF, on the other hand, has asked the government to fix their commission (profit margin) at 3 percent and not introduce a subsidy on diesel for industrial consumers, among other things.
“We are waiting for the nod from the NOC board to start talks with the transporters,” said Bachchu Kafle, NOC Deputy Managing Director, who is in Amlekhgunj and has held informal talks with NPTF leaders. He told myrepublica.com that the negotiations will probably start on Friday.
A senior official at NPDA also said that a delegation from the association today presented their concerns and the rationale for their demands to senior MoCS officials. “Chances are high that formal talks on our demands will start on Friday,” he said.
Despite the breakthrough, NOC failed to resume import of fuel on Thursday also. It also faced strong resistance from the striking dealers, who obstructed the movement of loaded tankers at Thakot depot. As a result, NOC distributed less fuel in the market. The queues at refilling stations, meanwhile, continue to grow.
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