Baluchistan and NA Have-Nots Deprived of Gas by the Haves

KARACHI: The Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) on Cabinet’s decision has been taken as surprise to shelve all the LPG air mix plants installation which were meant to provide the poor with a clean, environmental friendly, cheap and safe resource of energy besides uplifting of country’s remote area in Balochistan, Northern Areas and AJK. Baluchistan was first deprived of Sui Gas and now even Synthetic natural gas (SNG) by the vested interest.LPG Air mix plants were planned to be installed in unprivileged areas in Baluchistan and Northern Pakistan, where no on-grid supply of natural gas is available due to high cost of laying pipelines and terrain. This anti-deforestation campaign and socio economic considerations of Ministry of Petroleum and ECC in the name of Village Gasification project through LPG AirMix and CNG technology was duly planned and approved in July 2007 and December 2007, respectively.”The socio economic and anti-deforestation project was based on supply of piped gas to remotely areas and under privilege areas of Baluchistan and Northern Areas of Pakistan, where there is no Sui Gas supply lines and poor people are forced to consume woods and other natural scarce resources for the heating and general energy needs”, said Ex-Director, SSGC, Nawabzada Nosherwani. He further said that the task was assigned to two national gas companies i.e. SSGCL and SNGPL.
The political leadership questioned decision of ECC and wanted to know if now Sui gas will be supplied to whole of Baluchistan instead of Air Mix piped gas? The Chairman, Balochistan Economic Forum, Sardar Shaukat Popalzai while expressing his dismay over the ECC decision and said that the SSGCL had successfully accomplished large Air Mix projects in the past such as, at Noshki, Sorab, Gawadar, Kot Ghulam Muhammad, Awaran and Bella.
He said that the ECC has made the decision recently to save some amount of so-called subsidy to run the projects but the fact has never been considered that the airmix project was meant to yield far bigger advantages against mere subsidy. The subsidy is infact cross-subsidy. The rich domestic sectors are all getting cross subsidy. ECC may also do away with cross Subsidy to domestic consumers in Islamabad, Lahore, Karachi and Peshawar, especially in the homes of all ministers, secretaries, DGs etc. He stated why is subsidy to higher society ok but to poor is not ok?
While considering use of LPG Cylinders as an alternate to Synthetic Natural Gas (SNG) produced through LPG Airmix plants, this experience has never successful in past, as the distributed LPG Cylinders hardly reach the consumers. Such so-called sales are nothing but a scam.
Gwadar Business Associate and member FPPCI, Col (Rtd), Maqbool Afridi while demanding the ECC to revert its unethical and unjustified decision.
ECCand should have a complete back ground and in depth study of basis of ECC Decision made in 2007 and 2012-13 regarding the application of LPG Air mix system versus LPG Cylinders. ECC should make the ECC Summary public, so that the political leadership knows what transpired this anti-poor decision by PTI Government.
ECC for its satisfaction, may order to verify /review the working/basis of this Summary submitted to them, to shelve this national project serving the poor people, by any third party auditors who can easily find out the actual capital and operation costs of these simple projects to provided piped gas to deprived population. Political analysts are of the view that this move by ECC will create political unrest and may fuel separatist movement.