Gas load-shedding: We must address grievances of industrial sector, says CM

KARACHI: The industrial sector is the backbone of our economy and we must redress its grievances by managing gas load, said Chief Minister (CM) Murad Ali Shah.

“Sindh must be given gas as stated in the Constitution,” he remarked during a meeting with the federal minister for petroleum and natural resources, Shahid Khakan Abbasi, at CM House on Thursday. They had a detailed discussion on issues such as gas load-shedding and the Gas Development Surcharge (GDS).

The CM said that the provincial government should be given due representation in state-owned oil and gas companies. After the 18th Amendment, the provinces are shareholders in oil, gas and other natural resources with the centre, he added.

Raising the issues of GDS, Shah remarked it that it will be taken up in the Council of Common Interest meeting.

The CM told Abbasi that a delegation of industrialists had met him recently, adding they had serious reservations against gas closures or what it is termed as a ‘gas holiday’.

The federal minister assured the CM that he would redress the grievances of the industrial sector of the province.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 2^nd, 2016.