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Trick On Consumers and Dealers of Petroleum Products
By KTM Metro Reporter in Kathmandu
The state-run newspaper “The Rising Nepal” of December 13, 2007 stated that Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala directed the Finance Ministry to make an arrangement for paying the dues of the Nepal Oil Corporation (NOC) to the Indian Oil Corporation (IOC). According to the newspaper, the NOC owes Rs. 9.88 billion to the IOC. The same newspaper reported that speaking at the Finance Committee of the Legislative-Parliament, Interim Legislator Dr. Prakash Sharan Mahat asked what policy was it to bring petroleum from India to Nepal and sell it cheaper in Nepal than in India, and suggested the government of Nepal to adjust the Nepalese prices of petroleum products to the Indian prices.
Minister for Industry, Commerce and Supplies, Shyam Sundar Gupta said that he would resigned from the position of the Minister if he could not make the smooth supply of petroleum products in the near future. He also said that the former royal government took out a large sum of money from the NOC making it unable to pay its dues to the IOC. However, the minister had neither resigned from the position nor had attempted to recover the money from the former corrupt minister of the royal government. The short supply of petroleum products continued. Nepalese consumers have to line up for four hours for filling up their motorcycles with four liters of petrol.
Minister for Industry, Commerce and Supplies, Shyam Sundar Gupta was of the opinion that the short supply of petroleum products was due to the inefficiency of the NOC management and the corruption inherent in it. He warned the NOC employees that he would not hesitate to fire officials of NOC if they failed in immediately regulating the supply of petroleum products. However, weeks have passed since the minister made such a commitment but the short supply of petroleum products continued.
One of the Interim Legislators said that the Prime Minister, Ministers and other officials concerned with the supply of petroleum products have been interfering in the business of the NOC causing irregularities in the businesses of the NOC. Thus, the officials supposed to control the corruption in the NOC have been making money at the cost of the consumers and the dealers of the petroleum products.
The previous government had set a precedent for making money selling the Nepal-bound petroleum products in the Indian market whenever the prices of those products were higher in India. Logically thinking Nepalis suspected that the same thing might have been happening this time too.
Nepal Petroleum Dealers Association (NPDA) announced that they would launch an indefinite strike starting on December 25 to protest the government's failure to ensure adequate supply of petroleum products. At a press conference held in Kathmandu, President of the NPDA said that they were forced to go on strike as the government ignored its 17-point demand put forward to the government. The president stated that they would make petroleum products available to the ambulances, press and security vehicles, milk containers and fire brigade vehicles from certain petrol pumps.
NDPA President Shiv Prasad Ghimire said that the dealers were forced to go on strike as the government failed in responding to their 17-point demands, which include adequate supply of petroleum products. NPDA warned that it would close down all petrol pumps of the country from December 25, if the government were not to meet its demands.
President of Nepal Gas Distributors' Association, Chandra Krishna Shrestha said that the NOC's pretext of cash shortage for disrupting the supply of gas was not logical. “It is the weak and inefficient management of the NOC and the lack of monitoring by the government that the petroleum products have been in short supply," said Shrestha according to “The Rising Nepal” of December 20, 2007.
On Wednesday, December 19, 2007, NOC President Digambar Jha said that there could be a price rise of Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) again if the government were not to provide the subsidy on it. He said that until the NOC was able to pay its dues the regular supply of petroleum products, including LPG, could not be maintained in a smooth manner according to “The Rising Nepal” of December 20, 2007.
It was clear that asking the Ministries of Finance and Supplies to make adequate supply of petroleum products, the Girija administration had been playing a trick on the Nepalese consumers and dealers of the petroleum products, and on covering up its misdeeds of making short supply of petroleum products. The administration could resolve the problem of the short supply of the petroleum products if it were interested in doing so rather than probably making money out of it.
