Over 100,000 registered with national database to obtain fuel

By Ifham Nizam

More than 100,000 people had registered with the national data base to obtain fuel by yesterday and new fuel stocks would not be distributed until registration was completed, the Ministry of Power and Energy officials said.

Power and Energy Minister Kanchana Wijesekera told journalists that a vessel carrying 40,000 MT of petrol was scheduled to arrive yesterday (19) and petrol would be distributed today for essential services.

The Ministry said that the payments had been made for the relevant petrol shipment. Minister Wijesekera also said that two diesel shipments had been unloaded in Colombo on Monday.

He said one more diesel cargo at the Colombo Port was scheduled to be unloaded. In a tweet, he said that one petrol cargo undergoing the quality sampling had been discharged yesterday (19).

The minister added that Ceylon Petroleum Storage Terminals Ltd. (CPSTL) would commence deliveries to the rural depots by train and bowsers today. Dispensing fuel through the Ceylon Petroleum Corporation (CPC) filling stations will commence on Thursday (July 21) according to the QR code system and the last digit on a vehicle’s number plate, according to Fuel Station Owners’ Association (FSOA) Chairman Kumara Rajapaksa. He requested the public not to wait in queues unnecessarily.