Claiming that the ongoing gas crisis in the country was a consequence of the federal government failing to place timely orders for liquefied natural gas (LNG), Sindh Education and Labour Minister Saeed Ghani demanded on Saturday that the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) file a reference against Prime Minister Imran Khan and federal ministers found responsible for gas, sugar, flour and electricity crises.
Addressing a press conference, Ghani termed the incumbent federal government "the mafia government", accusing it of depriving the nation of billions of rupees over the past two years. "Yet, the NAB is silent on the matter," he remarked.
According to Ghani, a loss of Rs122 billion had been incurred just because the Centre failed to place orders for LNG procurement in time. And there is evidence proving the Centre's incompetence on the matter, he claimed.
The provincial minister said that if the NAB did not take immediate action against the PM and federal ministers on the matter, his party would take the initiative to file a reference against them.
He added, "The PM is aware that the demand for gas increases during winter as he himself had pointed this out few months ago and yet, the orders for the LNG were not placed in time."
According to Ghani, the Centre incurred a loss of Rs10 billion due to delays in orders for LNG in 2018. In 2019, he said, although the orders were placed on time, furnace oil was used for power generation instead of LNG, because of which the nation had to pay Rs50 billion in excess on account of electricity bills.
And now in 2020, delays in orders for LNG have burdened the nation with an additional expense of Rs37 billion, just because of the "incompetent" PM and his two ministers, Nadeem Babar and Omar Ayub, alleged Ghani.
He said another Rs25 billion were spent on account of two LNG terminals, which further increased the financial burden on the country.
"And despite the presence of clear evidence of this corruption of billions of rupees, the NAB continues to be a silent spectator," he remarked. "We will wait and see for a few days whether the NAB chairperson takes any action and will prepare a reference and present it to the anti-graft watchdog otherwise," he said.
Published in The Express Tribune, December 6th, 2020.
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