The move not only bespeaks our desperation with regard to energy crisis, its also structurally flawed, unworkable.
LAHORE: The decision to shut down the CNG supply for three consecutive months will receive a severe backlash from all and sundry. Not only would such a move disenchant people’s trust in the government but it would also discredit the sitting government’s potential capability to govern its citizens in the future. The move not only bespeaks our desperation with regard to handling the energy crisis, it is also structurally flawed and unworkable, unless some amendments are made urgently.
The government is expecting this cut to be utilised for energy generation from CNG, which would be cost-effective in bringing down the costs of both, per unit production and tariffs, significantly. However, the government misses the catch that this is only possible if it manages to enact the order uniformly for all consumers. There is a need to rationalise the policy for public transport systems bulging with blue-collared commuters, who would be severely affected by the hikes in fares. Their mobility and employability are directly linked. The government would have to increase the pay scales of the commuters or give them transport allowances to balance off this abrupt development. Any such policy is a temporary fix that does not weed out the root problem but amounts to creating more problems instead.
Would we be better off at the end of these three months and would the national coffers have accumulated enough surpluses to generate electricity and meet the shortfall? For how long would the public bear the brunt of mistaken and miscalculated initiatives of our leadership, of first giving out too many permits for CNG stations and later, scaling back when the public had finally learnt to attune to CNG load management schedules? Likewise, it was neither logical nor did the government have any moral justification for rationing CNG supplies to luxury private vehicles worth over Rs10-20 million and to increase the electricity tariff preceding this decision, without ever bothering to broaden the tax base or rope in the black economy barons or the tax-evading affluent classes.
The proverbial resilience of this nation has virtually choked up and people would take to the streets in reaction to such an injustice. What such measures historically do best is to destroy public utilities — buses, vans, cars, Wapda offices, gas stations, infrastructure, etc. That would incur unbearable follow-up costs of repairs through damage control ventures. The government must set its priorities right: show clarity of vision, follow a justifiable and workable plan with public endorsement, cut down on its own nepotism in waiving revenues for some and double taxing the other countless broken backs to adjust those costs and most importantly, maintain law and order for the safety of its citizens and infrastructure — and, most importantly, for its own survival.
Mehrunnisa Hashmi
Published in The Express Tribune, October 11th, 2013.
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