Okafor Ofiebor/Port Harcourt
Another round of shortage of petroleum products has hit the oil-rich city of Port Harcourt, Rivers State, less than a week after members of the National Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas,NUPENG, called off their strike.
It was learnt that the present shortage is attributed to the refusal of Tank Farm and Depot owners to sell products to Marketers.
The latter are said to be protesting the delay in payment of petroleum subsidy by the federal government.
Trade Union Congress of Nigeria (TUC) Rivers State explained the problem on its official Facebook today:”We would like to clarify that the current shortage of petroleum products experienced in Rivers State has nothing to do with NUPENG, PENGASSAN or even the Trade Union Congress.
“We understand that the shortage is mainly due to protest by Tank farm and Depot owners over the delay in payment of their subsidy claims. Essentially the Tank Farm and Depot owners who at present supply majority of the filling stations in Port Harcourt load one or two trucks per day and stop.
“The truth is that they have products but decided to embark on this Go-slow to draw the attention of the public to their situation.”
TUC has appealed to Depot owners and Tank Farm owners to reconsider their position in the interest of the ordinary people who passed through harrowing experience just two weeks ago.