LAHORE: Theft, leakage and mismanagement are the principle factors that are causing the Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Limited (SNGPL) to lose gas worth Rs20 billion, the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) determined in a meeting on Petroleum & Natural Resources held at SNGPL Headquarters on Thursday.
Chairing the meeting, legislator Yasmeen Rehman said that SNGPL suffers huge losses due to a lack of effective policy that curbs gas theft and urged immediate action in this regard. She said the country had to depend on alternate resources of energy because of the gas crisis.
SNGPL Managing Director Arif Hameed said that gas supply to more than 1.8 million consumers, including big companies, had been disconnected so far due to non-payment and gas theft.
Rehman directed Hameed to provide the list of all gas theft cases pending in various courts besides names of parliamentarians involved in gas theft for the sake of discretion. She said that gas theft might increase due to high rates of electricity, demanding that SNGPL officials should evolve an effective and transparent system to mitigate this trend.
Hameed told the meeting that the total sale of SNGPL had increased to Rs200 billion and the default rate was only 0.2 per cent and SNGPL was trying to decrease it. Rehman said that the media should also play a vital role against gas theft.
Yasmeen Rehman said that efforts of Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Limited against pilferage were not enough and that a new law against gas theft would soon be passed by parliament.
Published in The Express Tribune, August 19th, 2011.
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The basic problem of SNGPL is their inefficiency, corruption and mismanagement. I want to share my personal experiences regarding the pathetic values of SNGPL.
1) Upon SNGPL's request in order to get clear meter reading, the SNGPL staff, by themselves, relocated the installed meter at our residence. The same month we got a bill of about 45k. After our enquiry request and to our horror, SNGPL's staff detected leakage at the pipe joints at both ends of the meter which was made while installing/relocating the meter. It was a severe negligence of SNGPL's staff but according to their absurd logic, the cost of gas which passed through the meter and leaked away by their negligence will be bared by us, AND the gas which leaked prior to meter is SNGPL's loss.
2) While travelling between Wah Cantt and Hassanabdal, near Green Lagoon Restaurant, is SNGPL's office and main supply/delivery station. It is so difficult to breath at this site as there is so massive leakage in pipelines which one can smell 24/7 and it has more than a year but the staff deputed there has been not able to stop this leakage. It could lead to a major catastrophe and mass destruction, if God forbid, it catches fire accidently which it is highly proned.