Sri Lanka president asks to crackdown black market fuel dealers

ECONOMYNEXT – Sri Lanka Police has been instructed to crack down on black market fuel dealers by President Ranil Wickremesinghe, a statement from the President’s Media Division (PMD) said.

The President had made the comments during a discussion about the fuel crisis held at the Prime Minister’s Office on Saturday (23).

Officials have found that fuel hoarding to sell at higher prices is one of the primary reasons for the growing fuel queues in Sri Lanka, where public life has come to a halt due to fuel scarcity.

“Attention was also paid to the smuggling of fuel obtained from fuel stations and selling at higher prices,” the PMD said in a statement.

“The President instructed the police to expand raids and strictly enforce the law against the individuals and groups involved in black-marketing.”

To resolve the issue a Fuel Pass system to obtain fuel via an app and QR code was developed, which citizens have been asked to sign up for. Swift implementation of the QR code system was also discussed at the meeting. (Colombo/Jul23/2022)