Ghee manufacturers marked their third day of strike today as factories remained shut. Supply to wholesalers and retailers will be discontinued from today.

Pakistan Vanaspati Manufacturers Association (PVMA) Chairman Sheikh Abdul Waheed said that a letter has already been written to the government officials for the provision of security but so far no official has contacted yet. Subsequently, the halt would be observed for indefinite period, he said.

The strike has been called in the light of the recent attacks on National Logistic Company (NLC) trucks, by the transport/truck mafia on February 12 2012. The four trucks loaded edible oil of worth Rs30 million of the National Logistic Company (NLC).

The PVMA chairman stated, it had decided to close the factories for an indefinite period of unless some assurance from the government was given to them that no such incident would take place in future. He said all 94 mills had locked their gates across the country, following a decision was taken by the executive committee of the PVMA in all regions.

Abdul Waheed said ghee industry was in the grip of an organised extortionist and transport/tanker mafia, which had paralyzed the transportation of imported edible oil from Port Qasim, Karachi, to upcountry destinations. He said the PVMA was being victimised by constant unilateral increase in transportation rates, blackmailing and pilferage of their cargo. He said the burning of four NLC tankers, loaded with edible oil by tanker mafia, had created a wave of fear and uncertainty among the manufacturers. He regretted the inconvenience caused to the public in advance.