New schedule: CNG association opposes new supply schedule for Punjab

Warns of protests if decision not reversed till July 10.

The All Pakistan CNG Association (APCNGA) has refused to accept a revised schedule gas supply to CNG outlets across Punjab, said a press release.

APCNGA Central Chairman Pervaiz Khan Khattak told a press conference on Thursday that the association would resist the implementation of the new schedule. He said 72 hours business in a month was a cruel joke. He gave the government until July 10 to revise the decision or the association would take to the streets.

He claimed the government was patronising private power plants by providing them subsidised gas. “Power plants should not be supplied gas to produce electricity because they supply electricity at much higher rates than those fixed by National Electric Power Regulatory Authority.”

Khattak said the CNG sector employed millions of people. He stated that 80 million people use CNG- converted vehicles while government earns billions in taxes from the sector, but he did not give a figure or compare the revenue generated by the government with other sectors.

“Our share is being diverted to those addicted to subsidised gas despite the fact that all the sectors excluding CNG have alternatives to gas,” Khattak claimed. He argued that, “More tariffs have been levied on the sector, while taxes on the sectors that are getting gas have been decreased.”

APCNGA representatives said that hundreds of CNG stations had been closed across Punjab due to curtailed supply. They demanded a schedule in accordance with which CNG pumps would remain open from 4am to 2pm daily.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 4^th, 2014.