Minister sees gas crisis worsening in Jan, Feb

The gas crisis will intensify in January and February, forecast Sindh Energy Minister Imtiaz Ahmed Shaikh on Tuesday, maintaining that the federal government was responsible for the aggravating situation.

In a statement issued on the day, the provincial energy minister said the worsening gas crisis was a consequence of the Centre's wrong decisions.

"The [federal] government has received the highest number of bids [for gas procurement] in the country's history and if it goes on to approve the bids, irreparable damage will be caused to the national exchequer," he said, adding that if the bids were not approved, people would face an acute shortage of gas in the coming January and February.

He added that the people of Karachi were facing a severe gas crisis, despite the Sindh government giving the Right of Way for laying a 17-kilometre-long gas pipeline to the Sui Southern Gas Company.

"The silence of those who claim the ownership of Karachi is a matter of concern," the minister said, not specifying whom he was referring to.

He said the federal government had refused to implement Article 158 of the Constitution.

According to Article 158, "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, subject to the commitments and obligations as on the commencing day."

"Resultantly, a gas crisis has brought tears of blood to the eyes of the people [of Sindh]," said Shaikh, adding that the shortage had made the lives of domestics and commercial gas consumers very difficult.

He said, "The incompetence and failures of the federal government deprived the people of gas during last three winters."

The minister maintained that Sindh had the first right on the commodity, being the largest producer of gas in the country.

"Sindh's resources are not the federal government's property," he said, adding that the Sindh government would not allow anyone to usurp the rights of the people of the province.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 30^th, 2020.