Oil refineries' profits surge 1,000% amid public hardship: Hafiz Naeem

KARACHI: Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) chief Hafiz Naeemur Rehman on Saturday demanded that the government abolish the petroleum levy, warning that JI would launch another protest movement if no concrete steps were taken to provide relief to consumers.

Addressing a press conference at Idara Noor-e-Haq in Karachi, Hafiz Naeem alleged that oil refineries’ profits had increased by 1,000 per cent despite worsening economic conditions for the public and the country.

He said the government should review the extraordinary profits earned by refineries. He said the JI highlighted refineries’ windfall levy, under which any profit exceeding a prescribed threshold would be used to provide relief to consumers.

“The people’s conditions have deteriorated to their worst, while their profits have increased by 1,000 per cent,” he said.

The JI chief alleged that a handful of owners of refineries and oil marketing companies (OMCs) were benefiting at the expense of 250 million people, accusing them of working in collusion with the government and bureaucracy.

He described the prevailing economic structure as an exploitative capitalist system that benefited a few at the expense of the wider population.

Hafiz Naeem said the government was collecting approximately Rs150 billion every month through the petroleum levy and urged it to abolish the charge to reduce the burden on consumers.

He said the government had resisted the proposal, arguing that the petroleum levy had already been incorporated into the federal budget.

The JI chief said his party had presented both short-term and long-term alternatives to the government, including increasing the levy on vehicles with engine capacities exceeding 1,800cc.

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He argued that owners of expensive and larger vehicles could afford to pay higher levies, while ordinary citizens, particularly middle- and low-income households, should receive relief in fuel prices.

He said he had also discussed the matter with Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar, who had assured him that relevant figures would be provided at the government level within one or two days.

Hafiz Naeem said the government’s proposed petrol relief scheme could not be a substitute for abolishing the petroleum levy.

He credited public protests against the levy for helping secure some relief in petrol prices, saying those who had raised their voices against the additional burden deserved appreciation.

He warned that if the government failed to take a final decision on abolishing the petroleum levy, the JI would take the matter to the streets again.

Commenting on Karachi’s local government affairs, Hafiz Naeem said the people of the city had given Jamaat-e-Islami a mandate in the local government elections.

He said development work was progressing rapidly in areas administered by JI, adding that the party was trying to deliver beyond the limited powers available to it.