CNG dealers to move court

KARACHI: CNG Station Owners Association (CSOA) and chairman CNG Dealers Association (CDA) have threatened to move the court against the government decision for weekly closure of CNG stations and increase in CNG prices.

Chairman CNG Station Owners Association (CSOA) Malik Khuda Baksh and chairman CNG Dealers Association (CDA) Abdus Sami Khan while addressing a hurriedly called press conference here Monday said that some CNG station owners had already obtained stay from Sindh High Court (SHC) against the closure of CNG stations.

Malik said that the government cannot increase CNG prices as it had already ensured under a pricing formula to maintain a 50 percent difference between the prices of petrol and CNG agreed between CNG associations and Government of Pakistan.

Similarly, the government cannot suspend supply of gas to CNG filling stations in Sindh as the SHC had barred Sui Southern Gas Company from doing so.

He said environment friendly CNG fuel was substituting petrol import of $ 4.5 billion annually for the economy, by using only 7 percent of the total gas consumption in the country.

He said that the closure of CNG stations will virtually kill CNG industry as 2.5 million vehicles have been converted to environment friendly fuel in the country.

Malik pointed out that Rs 235 billion have been invested in CNG sector which is directly or indirectly providing employment to 500,000 people in the country.

Criticising vested interests including oil marketing companies (OMCs), he said that they were lobbying against CNG sector. "But we will fight against them till our success", he vowed.

Sami Khan said that gas shortage was caused by gas utilities and due to their mismanagement. They were also not going for large abandoned gas fields and also those under litigation, he noted.

He alleged that the government had granted licenses to 350 CNG filling stations last year despite a ban on new licenses.

Copyright APP (Associated Press of Pakistan), 2011