Gas worth Rs20bn being stolen: PAC

LAHORE: Gas worth Rs 20 billion is being stolen or lost due to leakage or mismanagement and it is the biggest problem facing Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Limited (SNGPL).

It was told in a meeting of sub committee of Public Accounts Committee on Petroleum & Natural Resources held here at SNGPL Headquarters on Thursday with Convenor Mrs. Yasmeen Rehman in the chair. Saeed Ahmad Zafar, Hamid Yar Hiraj MNA's, Arif Hameed M.D SNGPL and other members of the committee attended the meeting.

Addressing the meeting, Yasmeen Rehman said that the SNGPL had to suffer a huge loss due to lack of effective policy against gas theft and stressed for making policy in this regard as soon as possible.

She said the country had to depend on alternate resources of energy because of gas crisis.

MD, SNGPL Arif Hameed said that gas supply to more than 1.8 million consumers including big companies had been disconnected so far due to non-payment or gas theft. However, he said most of such people go to courts and get relief due to lack of proper laws.

The convenor directed the M.D to provide the list of all gas theft cases pending in various courts besides names of parliamentarians involved in gas theft so that their names could be published through media.

Yasmeen Rehman said there was big threat of increase in gas theft due to high rates of electricity asking SNGPL officials to evolve an effective and transparent system to check this trend.

The M.D told the meeting that total sale of SNGPL had increased to Rs 200 billion and default rate was only 0.2 percent and SNGPL was trying to decrease it.

Yasmeen Rehman said that media should also play a vital role against gas theft adding Public Accounts Committee usually took notice on the news items.

Copyright APP (Associated Press of Pakistan), 2011