Sindh not getting its due share in gas, says minister

Province produces 69% of gas but it is forced to pay cess for gas import

KARACHI: Sindh is not getting its due share under the current gas distribution formula, Sindh Minister for Industries and Commerce Manzoor Hussain Wassan said, adding the provincial government has already taken up the matter with the centre.

“Sindh produces 69% of natural gas of the country. We want to use the gas that the province produces instead of imported liquefied natural gas (LNG). The government should supply LNG to other provinces that need it,” said Wassan.

Speaking during a visit to the Karachi Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI) on Tuesday, he suggested that the federal government should not collect Gas Infrastructure Development Cess (GIDC) from Sindh because the province did not need imported gas from the Pakistan-Iran gas pipeline.



Replying to a question about the illegal flow of goods, he said the federal government could not control rampant smuggling unless it took action on the borders.

“Instead of taking action against retail and wholesale shops, the government should first answer how smuggled goods come into Pakistan from Iran, Afghanistan and China,” he asked.

The minister said the provincial government would give precedence to the industries located in Karachi so that the country could at least arrest the declining trend in exports.

“I assure you that my office and the new chief minister will listen to your problems and try to resolve them on a priority basis,” he said while talking to members and representatives of the KCCI.

During the tenure of PPP-led coalition government, Wassan acknowledged that the law and order situation was not good in Karachi, a very important city due to its large population and its industries that create job opportunities.

However, he said the situation had improved a lot in the last three years and it would continue to improve satisfactorily in the remaining years of the provincial government.

KCCI President Younus Muhammad Bashir urged the minister to take up and resolve the problem of land grabbing in Karachi.

“Political and religious parties are still grabbing land in industrial and other areas in Karachi. The Sindh government needs to take the matter seriously,” he said.

Bashir asked the minister to take notice of the setting up of offices of political parties in the industrial zones of Karachi, which backed labour unions in the factories, making it difficult for the industrialists to do business.

He pointed out that the provincial government was not investing enough in major water projects in Karachi. Citing the K4 project, he said Karachi’s water demand was growing exponentially while its water schemes were being developed very slowly.

KCCI former president Siraj Kassim Teli pointed out that there were thousands of appointments on political considerations in the Karachi Water and Sewerage Board and SITE Limited that the provincial government should remove immediately.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 21^st, 2016.

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