HERAT CITY (SW): The provincial council in western Heart province has blamed Norm and Standard Department for importing low-quality petroleum products into the country in cooperation with an Indian company called Geo-Chem Middle East.
According to the PC, the N & S Department is supposed to prevent the import of substandard oil to the country but instead itself is importing low-quality oil via the Islam Qala and Turghundi ports into Afghanistan.
Kamran Alizayee, Head of Provincial Council in Herat, shared a document with the journalists during a press conference Monday, which notes that the Norm and Standard Department had processed low-quality oil.
He said on the occasion that the N & S department charges $ 5 on a ton of oil, which earns it millions of dollars on daily basis. “But, its basic function is to prevent the substandard oil to be imported into the country since importing low-quality oil is totally against the law”.
He said those who are involved in importing substandard oil have not been arrested yet.
Alizayee warned that if the corrupt individuals are not arrested by the law enforcing bodies, people would take the matter in their own hands.
Aminullah Amini, Head of Norm and Standard Department however, denied the allegations of corruption.
He said the N & S department only plays a monitoring role, and it does not test the quality of the oil.
He further that the Indian company Geo-Chem Middle East is responsible for testing the imported oil to the country.
In this regard, Mohammad Asif Rahimi, Governor of Heart, said that three oil tankers are stopped for quality control on daily basis.
Salam Watandar tried to reach the heads of Geo-Chem Middle East Company but to no avail.
Geo-Chem Middle East is an Indian company, which was approached by the government three years ago to test the quality of imported oil in Afghanistan. A number of residents in Herat expressed their grave concerns over low-quality oil at the pump stations.
