PPP deplores oil, gas companies’ neglect of locals

MNAs accuse them of using force against protesters demanding their rights

HYDERABAD:

The Pakistan Peoples Party has denounced the oil and gas companies' neglect of local communities in employment and infrastructure development.

Addressing a press conference in Tando Allahyar district on Sunday, seven MNAs of the party accused a particular company of engaging a law enforcement agency to arrest area residents who staged a protest, demanding they be given their rights.

The MNAs included Shazia Atta Marri, Zulfiqar Sattar Bachani, Sikandar Rahoupoto, Mir Ghulam Ali Talpur, Pir Noor Muhammad Shah Jeelani, Tariq Shah Jamote and Mir Jam Shabbir Ali.

"Sindh contributes 70 per cent to the country's oil and gas production but local people aren't given their rights," deplored Marri, speaking on the occasion. "We don't want to hold oil companies accountable for the profit they have been netting from Sindh, but we want them to provide employment and other facilities as part of their corporate social responsibility."

Marri accused the companies of employing force against peaceful people in reaction to their protests.

She said the PPP's elected legislators would not allow any company to carry out injustice with any community.

The MNAs warned that if such injustices did not end, the situation would only worsen, adding that if the federal government stuck to its 'dictatorial' style of governance, it would give rise to a dangerous situation.

Jamote, who belongs to Hyderabad, said the Oil and Gas Development Company Limited (OGDCL) was operating in Hyderabad rural but the area's people had been deprived of jobs, school education and health and road facilities.

"On the other hand, heavy machinery and vehicles used by such companies damage the roads built by the government in the area," he added.

Bachani, who is from Tando Allahyar, condemned the Rangers' action against the peasants of Tando Allahyar who were demanding rights for their area. He gave a three-day deadline to the oil company to accept the protesters' demands, warning that his party would widen the protest otherwise.

Talpur, meanwhile, said the state of affairs was similar in Badin, where huge oil and gas deposits had brought no development or prosperity to the lives of the area's people.

Published in The Express Tribune, Septe0mber 28^th, 2020.