PPDA terms petrol pump sealing by KMC illegal

According to Business Recorder, the Pakistan Petroleum Dealers Association has asked Karachi Mayor Barrister Murtaza Wahab to direct the immediate reopening of petrol stations that the Karachi Metropolitan Corporation's enforcement wing sealed, calling the move illegal. At a press conference on Sunday, PPDA chairman Malik Khuda Bakhsh, alongside vice chairman Tariq Hasan and Anwar Kamal, said the civic body had given petrol pumps a seven-day window to fix fire-fighting extinguishers, yet several stations were shut only a day after the notice.

The association wants a formal inquiry into why the stations were closed before the compliance period expired and asks authorities to provide the reasons and justification for the early action. While the PPDA acknowledged the mayor's efforts on public safety, fire safety and legal compliance, it stressed that dealers need a fair chance to meet requirements set out in formal notices. Its leaders also said the continued closures were costing dealers heavily through lost regular and credit customers and damage to their reputation and goodwill.