UK to deploy Army officers to address fuel supply shortage
London, Oct 2: Almost 200 military tanker personnel will be deployed from Monday to provide temporary support to address the long queues at petrol stations across the UK due to supply shortages, the government announced on Saturday.
The shortage has been caused by a severe insufficiency of truck drivers, especially heavy goods vehicle (HGV) drivers required to supply fuel.
The government said that military personnel are currently undertaking their training at haulier sites across the country and will be on the road delivering fuel supplies from Monday.
Across the weekend over 200 military personnel will have been mobilised as part of Operation Escalin, said UK Defence Secretary Ben Wallace.
While the situation is stabilising, our Armed Forces are there to fill in any critical vacancies and help keep the country on the move by supporting the industry to deliver fuel to forecourts, he said.
The government claimed that demand for fuel has stabilised through the week and more fuel is now being delivered than is being sold, however some parts of the country still face challenges.
Thanks to the immense efforts of industry over the past week, we are seeing continued signs that the situation at the pumps is slowly improving, said UK Business Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng.
UK forecourt stock levels are trending up, deliveries of fuel to forecourts are above normal levels, and fuel demand is stabilising. It's important to stress there is no national shortage of fuel in the UK, and people should continue to buy fuel as normal. The sooner we return to our normal buying habits, the sooner we can return to normal, he said.
The military intervention comes alongside a range of measures to ease temporary supply chain pressures in food haulage industries, which the UK government says has been brought on by the pandemic and the global economy rebounding around the world.
Further measures include a bespoke scheme allowing up to 300 fuel tanker drivers to the UK on a temporary basis.
The UK Home Office is allowing a number of fuel haulage drivers to work in the UK immediately as an emergency measure to address the crisis. It follows an earlier announcement of further time-limited visa measures to get 4,700 food haulage drivers from late October and leave by February 2022.
The government has stressed that visas are only a short-term fix and that it wants to see employers make long term investments in the UK domestic workforce instead of relying on overseas labour to build a high-wage, high-skill economy.
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Lets win the world through love, friendship: Dr. Boby Chemmanur
Mangaluru: “Wars, bombings, mass killings etc. are happening all over the world for different reasons. However, none of us will be aware of what we have achieved from this. If everyone wants to live in peace, we all have to extend the hand of friendship. So let's win the world with friendship and love,” said businessman, social worker, donor Dr. Boby Chemmanur speaking after receiving honor from the Team B-Human in a program held at Kianza Garden near Someshwara Uchila on Saturday.
Boby revealed about not visiting Mangaluru despite invitations owing to the city's bad impression he had. “However, after watching Team-B Human's social service video, my perspective about Mangaloreans changed.” In addition he also promised to help the people of this region, including my fans through a charitable trust.
Expressing gratitude, he said, “Once upon a time I used to be a man who would flaunt my wealth. After my mind transformation, I learned to love and befriend the world. I myself paid one crore rupees for the release of Abdul Rahim, a young man from Kerala who was stuck in Saudi Arabia. My Mother, who would not give money to non-christians, gave Rs. 1 Lakh and encouraged the funding. Many people have helped me to achieve my goal. I am grateful to all of them.”
Inaugurating the program, Manjeshwar MLA A.K.M. Ashraf called Kerala a model for humanity in the country. “Even though Kerala has been portrayed in a distorted way by some individuals, the real story of Kerala is known as Boche created by Dr. Boby Chemmannur. It is commendable that Team B Human has honored such social workers.” Legislative Assembly Speaker UT Khader who joined the program virtually extended his best wishes.
The program, led by Asif Deals, Founder President of Team B-Human, also felicitated Sabita Shetty, Founder Managing Trustee of Tapasya Foundation, and Hanif Puttur, General Secretary of CRDF, Puttur.
Zakaria Jokatte- Managing Director of Al Muzain Group, Sharif Bolara- Managing Director of Whitestone, Mansoor Ahmad Azad- Chairman of Hidaya Foundation, Muhammad Kunhi-Managing Director of Shanti Prakashan, Abdul Latif Gurpur- Managing Director ANI Trading Company, Muzafar Ahmed-Trustee of Team-B Human, Abdullah Monu- Administrative Director Eurogroup Qatar , KA Bawa of Deals Group, Khayyum Manya- Trustee of Abhayam Dialysis Center Kasaragod, DK District Wakf Advisory Committee Vice Chairman-AK Jamal, Sameer Kasaragod, Naveen Hegde were present during the occasion.
Siraj, President of the Mangalore unit of Team B Human, extended a warm welcome, while motivational coach Rafeeq Master and Saif Sultan, founder of Hope Foundation, moderated the program.
