Supply closure: CNG association, transporters give govt 7 days to reverse decision

The purpose of the federal govt’s decision is to deprive Sindh of its rights, they claim.

KARACHI:

The All Pakistan CNG Association (APCNGA) and the Karachi Transport Ittehad (KTI) have given a seven-day ultimatum on Wednesday to the federal government to reverse its decision on CNG closure and threatened to protest if the demands are not met.

The government had announced that, instead of two days, compressed natural gas (CNG) stations will remain closed for three days in Sindh during the month of Ramazan.

Addressing a press conference on Wednesday, APCNGA Sindh chairperson Shabbir Sulemanji said that the purpose of the federal government’s decision is to deprive Sindh of its basic rights. Not only the CNG owners will be affected from this decision, but the people will also suffer due to the closure for three days, he said. He was accompanied by along with KTI president Irshad Bokhari.

Sulemanji said that they were informed about this decision on Ramazan 1, which proved that the government was not interested in providing relief to the people in the holy month.

He warned that if the decision was not taken back within seven days, then they will adopt a two-pronged strategy. First, they would stage protests outside Sui Southern Gas Company (SSGC) headquarters in Karachi. If that does not help, then they will shut down CNG stations across the country.

Irshad Bokhari said that if the CNG schedule was not withdrawn in seven days, then the transporters will not ply their vehicles on the roads until their demands are met. He said that the protesters did not want the people to suffer in Ramazan but the three-day closure schedule was making thousands of people associated with the transport business suffer. He added that the transporters will also participate in the APCNGA protest outside the SSGC headquarters. 

Published in The Express Tribune, July 3^rd, 2014.