ISLAMABAD, Jan 1 (APP): Minister for Power Omar Ayub Wednesday assured the members of National Assembly that the government was taking steps to meet gas shortage.
Responding to a calling attention notice of Chaudhry Faqir Ahmed and others, he told the National Assembly that the gas companies had added 12 percent more gas to its network to supply it to domestic and commercial consumers to beat the extreme cold and record low temperatures during the ongoing winter season.
The minister said the gas to the industrial sector would be restored soon while gas to the CNG stations would be again made available in a month.
He put the onus for increasing gap between the supply and the demand of gas on the lack of planning by the previous governments.
The Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz and the Pakistan Peoples Party, during their 10-year rule, did not carry out production and exploration activities in the oil and gas sector, and they relied only on imported gas, he asserted.
The past governments’ main focus was on loot and plunder of the national wealth, and purchase of offshore properties, he added.
Omar said the present government made a lot of efforts and attracted investment in the oil and gas sector. It had already auctioned eight blocks to companies for exploration of oil and gas, and the process was underway to auction 18 more, he added.
He said the people in Sindh were not getting gas as the provincial government was not giving the right of way to the Federal Government for the supply of gas.
Ch Faqir Ahmed and Saad Waseem, while drawing the attention towards the issue, stated that the people in their constituencies were facing unscheduled gas load-shedding and sometimes the supply was disconnected without prior notice.
The minister conceded that the tail end consumers were facing problems in getting the gas due to system constraints.
When Deputy Speaker Qasim Khan Suri raised the issue of lack of gas supply to the citizens of Quetta, the minister assured that work was continuing to lay down a new bigger pipeline for the supply of gas to the residents of the provincial capital.
Later, Qasim Suri adjourned the session to meet on Thursday at 11 am.
