Chaos at petrol stations

The Island editorial of 29/06/2022 aptly describes the pathetic state of the country where there is no end in sight with petrol queues, social unrest and an incompetent Government. When one looks at the daily reports of violence at petrol stations, I wonder whether there is law and order in this country. Queues are almost non-existent when the motorcyclists throng filling stations and the policemen on duty look the other way during this disorderly conduct. There are several reports of thugs controlling these stations often with the connivance of the police officers and filling their containers to be later sold at three times the market value of fuel. In addition, policemen on duty help their friends, relatives and other influential people to jump the queues and get their tanks filled. This is a national calamity which needs an immediate and effective response from the highest levels of the Government. Allowing thugs and goons to run fuel stations should be forcefully dealt with by shifting the control of petrol stations to the armed forces. Police sending a few constables to petrol stations is not enough and their senior officers instead of working in their air-conditioned offices should venture out to check the actual ground situation.

It was reported that one petrol station in Kurunegala is controlled by a set of underworld thugs who force the petrol station attendants to first fill their containers before supplying petrol to those who have waited for days. A similar incident was reported from Kalutara, where a politician forcibly refuelled his buses and his son’s vehicles and those of his friends at the expense of the people waiting in a long queue, and in full view of the policemen on duty. No wonder the people who have waited for days turn violent and often clash with the Police. Recently, we saw on television how luxury vehicles enter the Kolonnawa storage terminal and get their tanks filled without any hindrance and the question is who gave them permission to do this? So far neither the Minister nor the CPC Chairman has given any explanation about this blatant violation of fairness to the public. It is imperative for the Government leaders to wake up from their slumber and see that sanity prevails at fuel stations.

In Kandy, three-wheelers are doing a brisk business of selling petrol sometimes at Rs. 2,000 a litre which is a lucrative trade and this explains why there are only a few three-wheelers available for hire in the city. It is more profitable for them to sell the petrol they get to some other party and then rejoin the queue and this vicious cycle continues. Government should assign only two days of the week for three-wheelers and enforce the rationing system by providing petrol based on the last number of their vehicle. Government talks about these grandiose schemes but no action is forthcoming (NATO, no action, talk only). We have a law and order Minister who hasn’t uttered a word or given instructions to the Police to stop all the illegal activities, such as jumping queues, filling containers and selling fuel at black market prices.

The system introduced to ensure that health sector employees would be given petrol on Fridays at designated petrol stations has become an utter failure. Some owners of petrol sheds claim that they are unaware of this system and Police have been totally ineffective in preventing others waiting in queues from becoming abusive towards health sector personnel. This shows that nothing works properly in spite of government proclamations and the ministers involved should be ashamed for their incompetence. Our people too are so selfish that they do not realise the importance of the health sector that works to save the lives of others. This facility to give petrol on Fridays is given solely to Health sector employees but this has been interpreted wrongly by the Police who have decided that it is for essential services only and come in hundreds of their private vehicles to be served with scant disregard to all those people waiting in queues. This situation is best described as anarchy in which there is no organisation and control, especially in society, because there is no effective government.

Prof. O. A. Illeperuma