• The newly opened fuel station belongs to a close relative of a private secretary of the Presidential Secretariat

By Chaturanga Samarawickrama

With the prevailing shortage of diesel in the country, a total of 12 bowsers with 79,200 litres of diesel sent to CEYPETCO affiliated refilling station at Ambatale town on Wednesday, was not sold to CEYPETCO customers, the Bowsers’ Association said.

They said another six bowsers of 36,000 litres had been invoiced to be sent to the fuel station yesterday. The details were revealed after an investigation was conducted following several complaints received by the dealers and CEYPETCO area consumers.  

The dealers were complaining that they did not receive diesel during the past seven or eight days. However, the investigations were launched based on the complaints.  

“The investigation conducted by the dealer union revealed that the newly opened fuel station belonged to a close relative of a private secretary of the Presidential Secretariat. The fuel stocks were sent to the Ambatale filling station following instructions of the said Private Secretary, “the Association said.  

However, it was reported that the diesel that was already sent to the filling station were not given to any of the CEYPETCO consumers by the owners of the filling station. Instead, it was reportedly sold to several hotels on Duplication Road, Colombo, for Rs. 300 per litre,”they said.