PML-N seeks govt reply on SSGC losses

Three lawmakers submit calling attention notice in National Assembly

ISLAMABAD:

The Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz on Thursday submitted a calling attention notice in the National Assembly regarding the issue of mismanagement and non-appointment of a permanent managing director of the Sui Southern Gas Company (SSGC).

Signed by three PML-N lawmakers, Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, Marriyum Aurangzeb and Shaza Fatima Khawaja, the notice stated that the SSGC was facing problems such as mismanagement, nepotism and gas theft, while the federal government had not yet appointed a permanent MD.

The Sui Southern Gas Company was sustained an annual loss of Rs35 billion, the notice said, adding that the company’s mismanagement was pushing the country towards the use of expensive liquified natural gas (LNG). It demanded of the petroleum minister to respond to the loss to the national exchequer.

It may be recalled that The Express Tribune had recently published a report on the losses incurred by the SSGC as a result of nepotism and political appointments of senior officers.

It was revealed in the report that because of the failure of an ad hoc administration in controlling the gas theft and other losses, an annual loss of Rs35 billion was incurred to the national exchequer.

The report also revealed that not only the loss of billions of rupees, the gas supply to Sindh was also affected, while the company’s management was pushing the country towards the use of expensive LNG and collecting billions of rupees from consumers.

At present, the daily supply of SSGC is 1,200 million cubic feet. Due to theft, 200 million cubic feet of gas was disappearing from the system daily. In 2019-20, gas theft caused a loss of Rs35 billion to the national exchequer.

Of these losses, the Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (Ogra) collected Rs6.3 billion from honest customers who paid their bills regularly. It means that regular bill payers were punished for the gas theft.

Prime Minister Imran Khan had given a three-month deadline for the appointment of the company’s MD, but the appointment of a permanent managing director had yet to be made. Since 2016, the managing directorship had remained a game of musical chairs between three managing directors, including the current MD Amin Rajput. The absence of a permanent MD has led to management problems in the company and gas theft and leakage losses have soared to a record high of 18%.