Cap on new gas connections irks smaller units
Sindh, Balochistan and K-P question moratorium after PM relaxed rules for 55 constituencies
PHOTO: REUTERS
ISLAMABAD:
Sindh, Balochistan and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa have demanded of the federal government to lift the moratorium on gas connections as “it is impeding domestic and foreign investment in the country”.
The demand came during the Senate Standing Committee on Cabinet Secretariat meeting chaired by Senator Muhammad Talha Mahmood.
K-P’s Industries Department Secretary Farah Hamid Khan said: “The moratorium is the fundamental issue which is a major hurdle in the development plan of the province.
“We have several investors in line who want to invest but the hindrance has kept them at bay,” she said.
End of moratorium: PM clears lifting of gas connection ban
Farah was seconding the reservations aired by Sindh Industries Secretary Rizwan Memon, who said that for the development of economic zones in Sindh they were asking for only one per cent of the 67 per cent gas the province has been producing.
Memon lamented that every request of the province was being turned down while the economic zones were facing one of the major hurdles in terms of gas connections because the existing such zones were shut down for the same reason.
The chairperson asked Petroleum Concessions Director-General Qazi Muhammad Saleem: “Why is the government not lifting the moratorium?”
To this the director-general replied that due to severe shortage of natural gas it was not possible to lift the ban.
The PPP’s previous regime had capped new gas connections in 2011 because the country was facing serious gas shortages.
Mahmood then asked if the shortage was the issue then why Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif relaxed the moratorium for 55 constituencies of politicians and federal ministers.
He was referring to the Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Limited (SNGPL)’s reply submitted before the Islamabad High Court about the PM’s relaxation for gas connections to a select group of politicians.
Another member Senator Nauman Wazir chipped in, asking the director-general if Article 158 of the Constitution reigned supreme over the PM’s notification. “If yes, then in which capacity the PM is blessing his blue-eyed [ministers]?” he asked.
As per the article, the province in which a well-head of natural gas is situated shall have precedence over other parts of Pakistan in meeting the requirements from that well-head.
Earlier, Balochistan’s Industries Secretary Noor Muhamamd Jogezai lamented that the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor starts and ends in Balochistan but there was not a single brick being laid with regard to the construction of special economic zones in the province.
Gas supply to be diverted from Engro to Guddu plant
He said the Board of Investment (BoI) had responded to one of the correspondence about the zones after seven months that showed their seriousness towards the backward province.
BoI secretary Azhar Ali stated that the objections from the province were not factual and the delay was due to some other reasons.
The chairperson of the committee warned the government officials that if incentives were not given to investors in the country then the whole infrastructure would be destroyed by imports that would be way lower than the prices of products produced in the country. He directed the BoI secretary to sit with the representatives of the provinces and submit a report soon with the committee.
Separately, Civil Aviation Authority’s Director General Asim Suleiman told the committee members that airports were being outsourced to infuse efficiency and commercialism.
Suleiman was replying to an agenda item about an advertisement in the newspaper about the outsourcing operations and management of airports of the country questioned by Senator Taj Haider in the Senate.
Suleiman said airport operations were being outsourced for which 27 companies have submitted their applications. “It is to improve quality and efficiency at the airports, and take to commercialism,” he said, adding all air traffic control, radar and other major operations would remain with the CAA.
Mahmood asked him to submit all the details and tenders in the next meeting, besides details of loss and profit of all airports of the country.
Published in The Express Tribune, March 22nd, 2017.
Sindh, Balochistan and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa have demanded of the federal government to lift the moratorium on gas connections as “it is impeding domestic and foreign investment in the country”.
The demand came during the Senate Standing Committee on Cabinet Secretariat meeting chaired by Senator Muhammad Talha Mahmood.
K-P’s Industries Department Secretary Farah Hamid Khan said: “The moratorium is the fundamental issue which is a major hurdle in the development plan of the province.
“We have several investors in line who want to invest but the hindrance has kept them at bay,” she said.
End of moratorium: PM clears lifting of gas connection ban
Farah was seconding the reservations aired by Sindh Industries Secretary Rizwan Memon, who said that for the development of economic zones in Sindh they were asking for only one per cent of the 67 per cent gas the province has been producing.
Memon lamented that every request of the province was being turned down while the economic zones were facing one of the major hurdles in terms of gas connections because the existing such zones were shut down for the same reason.
The chairperson asked Petroleum Concessions Director-General Qazi Muhammad Saleem: “Why is the government not lifting the moratorium?”
To this the director-general replied that due to severe shortage of natural gas it was not possible to lift the ban.
The PPP’s previous regime had capped new gas connections in 2011 because the country was facing serious gas shortages.
Mahmood then asked if the shortage was the issue then why Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif relaxed the moratorium for 55 constituencies of politicians and federal ministers.
He was referring to the Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Limited (SNGPL)’s reply submitted before the Islamabad High Court about the PM’s relaxation for gas connections to a select group of politicians.
Another member Senator Nauman Wazir chipped in, asking the director-general if Article 158 of the Constitution reigned supreme over the PM’s notification. “If yes, then in which capacity the PM is blessing his blue-eyed [ministers]?” he asked.
As per the article, the province in which a well-head of natural gas is situated shall have precedence over other parts of Pakistan in meeting the requirements from that well-head.
Earlier, Balochistan’s Industries Secretary Noor Muhamamd Jogezai lamented that the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor starts and ends in Balochistan but there was not a single brick being laid with regard to the construction of special economic zones in the province.
Gas supply to be diverted from Engro to Guddu plant
He said the Board of Investment (BoI) had responded to one of the correspondence about the zones after seven months that showed their seriousness towards the backward province.
BoI secretary Azhar Ali stated that the objections from the province were not factual and the delay was due to some other reasons.
The chairperson of the committee warned the government officials that if incentives were not given to investors in the country then the whole infrastructure would be destroyed by imports that would be way lower than the prices of products produced in the country. He directed the BoI secretary to sit with the representatives of the provinces and submit a report soon with the committee.
Separately, Civil Aviation Authority’s Director General Asim Suleiman told the committee members that airports were being outsourced to infuse efficiency and commercialism.
Suleiman was replying to an agenda item about an advertisement in the newspaper about the outsourcing operations and management of airports of the country questioned by Senator Taj Haider in the Senate.
Suleiman said airport operations were being outsourced for which 27 companies have submitted their applications. “It is to improve quality and efficiency at the airports, and take to commercialism,” he said, adding all air traffic control, radar and other major operations would remain with the CAA.
Mahmood asked him to submit all the details and tenders in the next meeting, besides details of loss and profit of all airports of the country.
Published in The Express Tribune, March 22nd, 2017.