Govt misleading masses on CNG issue
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Half-truth by energy officials amounts to whole lie
The Pakistan Economy Watch (PEW) on Wednesday alleged that top government officials have started a campaign against CNG sector by misguiding masses by presenting doctored figures.
The incumbent administration is following the footsteps of former government by holding back the truth hidden from the common people to fulfil their objectives without public uproar, it said.
Federal Minister for Petroleum and Natural Resources Shahid Khaqan Abbasi has started speaking the language of influential lobbies who have thrown the country into unmanageable energy crisis for their profits, said Dr Murtaza Mughal, President PEW.
He said that government seems to have planned to get rid of the world’s largest CNG industry to please influential sector and continue the unjust distribution of natural gas.
The minister has claimed that over 30 per cent CNG stations are involved in gas theft without mentioning names of the operators or any action taken against them or pointing towards officials of gas utilities involved, he said.
Dr Murtaza Mughal said that if the recent assertion of Mr Abbasi is accepted and half of the natural gas consumed by these CNG stations is considered to be stolen, still it would make mere one per cent of the total natural gas produced in the state.
Shahid Khaqan Abbasi on June 07 said that 11 per cent of the natural gas is wasted to line losses, leakages and theft. He should not only focus on CNG sector and let people know about other influential sectors involved in the theft of the rest of natural gas.
Dr Murtaza Mughal said that only politically connected CNG operators can steal natural gas with the connivance of gas officials while any action against them seems to be improbable any time soon.
He said that baseless propaganda against CNG sector and its consumption could be a conspiracy to justify unjust distribution of hydrocarbon resources, support petroleum and liquid gas mafias, lift captive power mafia and pave way for personal gains.
Many countries employ qualified energy managers to ensure smooth flow while here all the energy related issues are left to politicians and incompetent bureaucracy who have always danced on the tune of powerful energy mafia, said Dr. Mughal.
