CNG dealers threaten to shut all stations

Friday, December 18, 2009
By Adeel Pathan

HYDERABAD: Compressed natural gas (CNG) dealers have urged the federal government to announce a CNG policy immediately and stop increase in gas prices, warning if the government failed, gas outlets across the country would be shut down.

Representatives of All Pakistan CNG Association and CNG Dealers Association Sindh announced that at a news conference at the local press club on Thursday.

Ghayas Paracha and Dr Zulfikar Yusufani, talking to media persons, said the Sui Southern Gas Company supplies 2.5 per cent of gas and Sui Northern Gas Pipelines 7 per cent to the CNG industry.

They asked the government to immediately stop gas loadshedding in the name of load management and also protested against the proposed gas price hike from January 2010. They said the government should not allow the Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (OGRA) to make this surge which would drive CNG prices up to Rs55.

They said the CNG industry is already facing the crisis and the rise in gas prices would further deepen the crisis and people would be deprived of the cheap fuel.

They also condemned remarks of Finance Minister Shaukat Tarin about purchasing CNG stations to overcome gas shortage and questioned what the government would do with 150,000 employees of these CNG stations.

Presently, there are 3,006 stations while about 500 are in the process of opening. “Can the government provide livelihood to these employees of the CNG industry,” a representative questioned.

They questioned what will happen to 2.5 million vehicle owners who are using the cheap fuel for running their vehicles and will the government would also refund Rs12.5 billion of their CNG kit installations. They said because of indifferent attitude of the OGRA the CNG stations were being closed which are resulting in loss of millions of rupees and people are also suffering.

They also demanded that gas pressure for Mirpur Khas, Moro and other cities should also be increased. They asked the government to make the gas cylinder testing easier, and testing fee should also be reduced.

They were of the view that such laboratories should be opened in Hyderabad, Sukkur, Nawabshah and other areas since only one lab is presently operating in Karachi. They announced that date of closure for CNG stations would be announced after a meeting in Islamabad and asked the government to accept their demands by December 20.