The prevailing acute shortage of fuel has put both consumers and petrol shed owners in a dilemma Kusum Dissanayake, Vice President of the Petroleum Distributors Association, said.
He added that there are no adequate stocks to distribute under the rationing (QR code) system he added.
The Vice President also says that although the government is working hard to create a judicious balance in the management of fuel distribution, everything depends on the economic condition of the country. “We are optimistic that everything will be resolved soon.”
He points out that the petrol station owners are currently in a crisis as they cannot pay the salaries of the petrol station employees and their loan instalments.
He briefed the media about the current situation.
Today, a large number of queues are emerging. There is no fuel to be distributed even under the QR system. But the situation will improve soon when the Sapugaskanda oil refinery starts functioning at its full capacity. “We expect the petrol problem to be reduced to some extent soon.”
“Currently, we know there is some shortage of petrol. But petrol has now been issued to a large number of filling stations around Colombo to mitigate the shortages. “Diesel” is also being released now.
Anyway, it will take a few more days for this problem to be normalised. This problem may crop up from time to time. The government is trying its best to manage this problem.
However, he said that the petrol shed owners are facing a severe issue right now, being unable to pay the employees. Each shed has at least 15 to 16 employees. Most of the loan payments have been delayed for over three months now. He added that petrol shed owners and consumers have not been able to get even the smallest amount of fuel available through the QR system.
