CNG, petrol stations to stage strike

All CNG and petrol filling stations will stage a strike in Lahore on December 27 and 28 to protest gas outages.

LAHORE: All compressed natural gas and petrol filling stations will stage a strike in Lahore on December 27 and 28 to protest against gas outages and cancellation of land leases of petrol pumps, announced All Pakistan CNG Association Chairman Ghiyas Abdullah Paracha.

Speaking at a press conference on Tuesday, Paracha said that a two-day gas closure for CNG stations was unjustified because the stations were consuming only 160 million cubic feet (mmcf) of gas per day against consumption of 675 mmcf per day by the industrial sector.

Paracha stressed that the government should revise petrol commission and stop petrol station auctions in Lahore.

He said factories which could be run on furnace oil and diesel should be given least priority in order to facilitate deserving sectors and illegal supply of gas should be stopped immediately.

He said that Sui Northern Gas Pipelines was giving preference to the industrial sector, adding the Punjab government had cancelled land lease agreements of 650 petrol pumps and auctioned the land.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 22^nd, 2010.