President constitutes body while CNG Association threatens indefinite strike

President Zardari has set up a three-member ministerial committee to resolve the gas supply crisis.

Taking notice of problems in gas supply across the country, particularly the closure of textile mills, President Asif Ali Zardari on Thursday set up a three-member ministerial committee to resolve the crisis.

The committee includes Minister of Textile Industry Rana Farooq Saeed Khan, Minister of Petroleum and Natural Resources Naveed Qamar and Minister for Water and Power Raja Pervez Ashraf.

Meanwhile, dealers of compressed natural gas (CNG) have threatened to resort to an indefinite strike across Punjab in response to prolonged gas outages in the province. Earlier in the week, Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Limited (SNGPL) had announced gas outages for two days a week for CNG stations in Punjab, while supply to industries has been restricted for three days.

In response, the CNG Association decided to go on strike for one day of the week resulting in gas not being available to consumers for a total of three days. Moreover, on Thursday the association threatened to go on strike for an indefinite period if the supply is not restored by November 4.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 29^th, 2010.