Pak LPG traders warn of strike, say 'would cut off supply to entire country if demands aren't met'

Lahore [Pakistan], July 19 : The Liquefied Petroleum Gas Industry Association has warned the Imran Khan-led Pakistan government that it would cut off the gas supply to the entire country on July 31 if the government did not accept its demands.
The Express Tribune reported that traders have refused to accept the government's new policy and demanded that the regulatory duty on LPG being imported through land routes be abolished.
"LPG is the fuel for the poor and the industry should be declared tax free," the association's chairman Irfan Khokhar said at a convention in Lahore.
He urged that the Jamshoro joint venture should be started immediately to increase LPG production.
Khokhar also demanded that direct interference of police in the transfer of LPG should be stopped immediately.
He said that in case of any violation of standard operating procedures (SOPs), the staff of civil defence and town offices should take action on the order of an assistant commissioner and deputy commissioner instead of the police.
Khokhar claimed that "substandard" cylinders, walls and buzzers were being manufactured from used iron drums in Gujranwala that caused an explosion.
He demanded immediate closure of the factories manufacturing them.
"If our demands are not met, we will close the Lahore metro bus service today. There will be a nationwide strike on July 31 and gas supply to the entire country will be cut off," he said, reported The Express Tribune.
LPG association officials and participants from other cities who attended the convention reached Kalma Chowk in the form of a rally and blocked the track of the Lahore metro bus service. They chanted slogans against the police.