ISLAMABAD/ LAHORE/ KARACHI:
Second day into the strike, CNG representatives in Sindh decided to call off the strike after assurance from the petroleum secretary while All Pakistan CNG Association (APCNGA), the country’s largest association, vowed to continue the shutter-down strike.
APCNGA held a protest in the federal capital to force the government to withdraw the proposed increase in CNG prices and raised slogans against Minister for Petroleum Dr Asim Hussain. Police intervened and arrested APCNGA Chairman Ghiyas Paracha for a couple of hours to tone down the protest against the government.
APCNGA – with majority representation in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, Punjab and Balochistan – decided to carry on while CNG Dealers Association and CNG Stations Owners Association – with representation in Sindh – have called off the strike after assurance by Petroleum Secretary Ejaz Chaudhary that the tax rate will be negotiated.
The current tax on CNG is about Rs141 per million British thermal units (mmbtu), or about Rs5 per kilogramme (kg) of CNG bought by the average consumer. The 2013 federal budget proposes more than doubling this amount to Rs300 per mmbtu. The new tax would raise retail prices of CNG by at least 6.4%, to about Rs94.35 per kg.
CNG Dealers Association Abdul Sami Khan said that Petroleum Secretary Ejaz Chaudhry has agreed to negotiate the tax rate on the CNG sector.
However, Petroleum Secretary Ejaz Chaudhry while talking to The Express Tribune clarified that the government has not accepted any demands of any representative of the CNG sector.
“The government is not single-handedly targeting just the CNG sector,” he said adding that it is increasing the tax rate across the board including the fertiliser sector and other industries.
“The petroleum secretary has assured to review the tax levy on the CNG sector. After his assurance, we decided to call off the strike,” CNG Stations Owners Association Chairman Malik Khudabaksh told The Express Tribune.
Meanwhile, APCNGA Chairman Ghiyas Paracha in a statement said that the government was misinforming the media that this tax was only for the CNG sector and not the public. Historical trend shows that an increase in tax is usually passed to the end-user.
Punjab is leading the protest as its open for business only four days a week compared with six days in Sindh. “Sindh will be impacted the least with the drop in margins,” said an official.
“We will stand and protest till the cancellation of the proposed price hike,” Paracha added.
Half-hearted strike in Lahore
The provincial capital also witnessed a partial CNG strike on Thursday, the first day after the weekly three-day closure by Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Limited.
Around 25% of the pumps remained open where long queues of vehicles were witnessed. Majority of these stations were not independent CNG station but also supplied petrol and were part of the Pakistan Petrol Pump Owners Associations (PPOA).
Some independent CNG stations located at the outskirts of the city also remained open. These fuel station owners claimed that they are not in a position to close their CNG stations as three days a week closure and continuous low gas pressure already impacted their business.
APCNGA Vice Chairman, Shuja Anwar said “our measure not only for our businesses but also for the 3.5 million CNG users who are enjoying cheap fuel, he said adding that the protest will continue.
Meanwhile, PPOA Information Secretary Khwaja Atif said that “we have opened our stations but if the issue is not resolved in a few days, we will join APCNGA’s strike and make it big”.
Published in The Express Tribune, June 8th, 2012.
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