Thefts and leakages crippling SSGC

The managing director of the SSGC has declared the problem of unaccounted gas as the biggest challenge for the company.

The managing director of the Sui Southern Gas Company (SSGC) has declared that the problem of unaccounted for gas is the biggest challenge being faced by the company. He stressed that gas theft and leakage were directly affecting the company’s profitability.

The MD, Dr Faizullah Abbasi, said this during a talk with a select group of journalists at his office on Friday. He added that unaccounted for gas, more commonly known as UFG, was almost equally divided between leakage and theft.

Dr Abbasi shared that as head of the organisation, reducing the percentage of UFG was his topmost priority even though he recognised that this would be an uphill task. “There is no other way except to tackle the issue,” he asserted.

His determination to face the problem head-on has earned him the title of ‘UFG man’ within the company.

The MD revealed that a five-year plan had been chalked out on how to deal with the crisis with financial assistance from the World Bank. He added that this was the first time such a plan had been drafted in the history of the organisation.

Annually, the SSGC had to pay billions of rupees in penalties to the government because of the high rate of UFG. It was estimated that gas theft and leakage had risen to more than eight per cent of the total supply while the upper permitted limit was five per cent.

In response to a question, he said that in order to avoid the high rate of unaccounted for gas, the company was also considering supplying gas through cylinders.

He added that all non-development expenditures of SSGC had been blocked to improve its financial position. This would also help in dealing with the more pressing issues being faced by the mammoth organisation.

Talking about the restructuring of the organisation, he explained that SSGC had been divided into two zones, North and South. One deputy MD looked after the northern zone of Sindh and Balochistan while one headed the southern zone, mainly encompassing Karachi.

He added that for ease of administration, Karachi had been further divided into three business units. In this way, the management was able to focus on problematic units.

Commenting on the recent induction of 2,500 employees, he said that he viewed this from a different angle. “Yes, a huge number of employees have been inducted but these employees can be an asset for the company if we succeed in reducing UFG with their help,” he maintained.

He believed that these employees could be effectively used in those regions of Sindh and Balochistan which were difficult to access.

The present government recently gave 2,500 employees permanent status within the SSGC, bringing the total number of employees in the company to 6,000.

Having spent most of his life in the United States, Dr Abbasi boasts a PhD in metallurgy and a teaching career spanning over 25 years in addition to the 10 years of professional experience in related fields.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 10^th, 2010.