Staff Reporter :
The Bangladesh CNG Filling Station and Conversion Workshop Owners Association and petrol pumps on Saturday withdrew their indefinite strike which was scheduled to begin from today (Sunday).
The leaders of the association took the decision following the government’s assurance to fulfil their demands.
Before it, they held a meeting with Road Transport and Bridges Minister Obaidul Quader, and State Minister for Power and Energy Nasrul Hamid in the headquarters of Bangladesh Road Transport Authority (BRTA).
CNG Filling Station and Conversion Workshop Owners Association on Wednesday threatened to enforce indefinite strike from October 30 if their demands including reduction of road rental fees and scrapping of the government move to increase CNG price were not met by this time.
The petrol pump owners at a press conference on October 19 announced indefinite strike from October 30 to press home their 12-point demands, mainly reduction of road rental fees, the same demands made by CNG refuelling pump owners.
After the meeting, Obaidul Quader said that two separate committees were formed to look into the matter with advice to file reports in two months.
As per rule, all the petrol pumps and CNG refuelling stations have to pay a fixed amount of rental fees to the Roads and Highways Department (RHD) for using spaces that connect the stations and the road. The fees are set on the basis of area of spaces.
But the RHD in October last year ‘abnormally’ increased the fees and imposed other charges, they claimed.
For example, a refuelling station previously had to pay around Tk 53,000 annually for using 24 decimal of lands of RHD. But the same station now has to pay around Tk 11.28 lakhs annually.
“Business of CNG refuelling stations and petrol pump owners are now about to be closed following the government decision,” said Masud Khan yesterday.
Their another demand of scrapping government’s move to increase CNG price came as the gas distributor companies have recently proposed to the Bangladesh Energy Regulatory Commission (BERC) to increase CNG price by around 83 percent and the BERC already held a public hearing on it. The current price of CNG is Tk 35 per cubic metre.
