Gas ‘holiday’ stains govt’s business-friendly image

Industry, CNG stations and fertiliser plants feeling the strain.

FAISALABAD:

The government’s move to stop gas supply to industries and transport vehicles has taken no time to change the business-friendly image of the ruling PML-N and businessmen of the country’s third largest city have termed the step ‘anti-business’.

Despite being a PML-N stronghold, Faisalabad is the only city that is reacting to the decision which has disrupted people’s lives. Before the general elections in May this year, the business community believed the PML-N would be business-friendly and put the economy back on track.

Now opinions of the businessmen and the general public have changed and most of them are complaining that the government cannot tackle the energy crisis, stressing that their lives will remain the same as before.



Earlier, the city dwellers punished the PML-N in by-elections for the provincial assembly, when the party’s candidate was routed in contest for a seat that the party had been winning since 1988.

In an attempt to cope with the fast-widening demand and supply gap, Sui Northern Gas Pipelines (SNGPL) has suspended natural gas supply to all industrial units of Punjab, including captive power plants, and compressed natural gas (CNG) stations.

Gas shortfall has widened significantly because of change in weather conditions and the increasing demand from domestic consumers, according to SNGPL officials.

Absence of gas for commercial consumers in Punjab would lead to a loss of billions of rupees to the industrialists and exporters, businessmen say. They are worried how to meet international orders as expensive alternative fuel would make them uncompetitive.

According to them, they would not be able to capitalise on the opportunities to be offered by the EU’s GSP Plus scheme, if the situation remains the same. Of an estimated 1.5 million people, who are associated with the textile industry, industrialists claim half of them will be unemployed due to gas outages.

“With the closure of independent power plants (IPPs) because of gas shortfall, electricity outages will increase in the coming days. Absence of both gas and electricity will stir trouble for the PML-N government,” said a business tycoon.

Besides the industry, around 2,000 CNG stations in Punjab have been shut down and all their workers have been unemployed because this business has no alternative to run the filling stations.

The situation is no different for the fertiliser plants as their closure will lead to shortage of urea for crop cultivation. Taking advantage of this, the black marketing mafia will charge higher prices for urea, which will increase the cost of production and cause losses to the farmers.

Every year the cost of production is increasing, but the government is not increasing the support price for crops according to the rise in expenses, complain growers while talking to The Express Tribune.

Industrialists, workers, farmers and ordinary people all are pressing the government to take back its decision of gas supply suspension in Punjab and save businesses and livelihood of people. They suggest that the government should come up with an alternative strategy.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 12^th, 2013.

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