Port Harcourt Refinery: Tanker Drivers at war over delay in fuel loading
Petroleum Tanker Drivers (PTD) and the Port Harcourt Refining Company (PHRC) are at loggerheads over the loading of petroleum products at the refinery. The PHRC accused the tanker drivers of being responsible for the delay because they were slow to work and had a rather slow pace in loading the product. The PTD, however, through their umbrella body, the Nigerian Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG), denied the allegations, saying that the company was hiding the truth.
Meanwhile, the Major Energy Marketers Association of Nigeria (MEMAN), the Petroleum Products Retail Outlets Owners Association of Nigeria (PETROAN), and the National President, Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN), said they were ready to lift products and were working on it. A source, per Vanguard News, said the refinery produces daily, adding that it has maintained its production status as disclosed earlier on Tuesday. At the loading bay, three trucks were being loaded while seven others waited for their turn and were within the loading premises.
It was noted that only three of the facility’s eighteen loading points were being used. Only tankers bearing the NNPC logo were seen loading on the refinery’s property; it was also noted. Despite the lack of activity, there were still activities going on in the manufacturing area and loading dock.
Worlu Joel, the terminal manager of Port Harcourt Refinery, revealed that the Petroleum Products Marketing Company (PPMC), an arm of the refinery, has always been stable and working and that loading of trucks has not stopped since Tuesday.
Joel said, “This is the PPMC loading arm. We have 11 loading bays that are functional, but because of the capacity, it has a huge capacity to deliver, so we are using three at the moment because it is efficient.”
“Out of the three, each one has the capacity of loading three trucks in 15 minutes. A truck is 45,000 litres minimum. We have the ones of 60,000 litres. Already, we have loaded more than 10 trucks. So, before the close of work yesterday, just in the next one hour, we are going to evacuate a minimum of 15 trucks.”
“If you give us 100 trucks yesterday, we will evacuate it in less than five hours. So, it is not our problem if there are no loading trucks; it is the tanker drivers’ problem. We have been begging them since yesterday to come around and take the products, but they didn’t turn up. It was just this morning (yesterday) after pleading with them that they came.”
On the contrary, the General Secretary of NUPENG, Mr. Afolabi Olawale, asserted that the management of PHRC was lying.
“The management is economical with the truth. People should know how we operate. We (tanker drivers) cannot just drive into the refinery to load products. The marketers buy the products and contract the employers of tanker drivers, Nigeria Association of Road Transport Owners (NARTO).”
“It is only when NARTO informs tanker drivers where there are products for loading that we can go in and load. We are ready at all times to load products when and where products are available,” he added.
