The Lahore and Faisalasbad Chambers of Commerce and Industry on Tuesday criticised Sui Northern Gas Pipeline Limited (SNGPL)'s new Gas Load Management Plan terming it an Industry Closure Plan. The office bearers of both the chambers said that because of the gas load management plan, not only the industry would suffer massively but the government would also be an ultimate loser.
President LCCI Irfan Qaiser Sheikh, Senior Vice President Kashif Younas Mehar and Vice President Saeeda Nazar were talking to FCCI delegation jointly led by its President Muzammil Sultan and Vice President Rehan Naseem Bharara. The other members of the delegation included Shabbir Ahmed, Mian Muhammad Farhan Latif, Haji Talib Hussain Rana, Ajmal Farooq and Sh. Mukhtar Ahmed.
Both the sides agreed that the government's plan to cut gas supplies to the industrial consumers for the three months period between December and February is a well-calculated and well thought-out conspiracy against the industry. "The rise in number of unemployed people would definitely create anti-government sentiments."
The LCCI office-bearers urged the government to immediately shelve the proposed gas load management plan to avert industrial closures and resultant massive layoffs. "How can the industry afford to pay the all-time high mark up of 16 per cent when there is no gas for the industry for 90 days at a stretch."
They also urged the government to get obsolete gas geysers and heaters with latest solar geysers and heaters to ensure gas to the industry. They said that around 40 percent of the industrial units in Punjab run on gas and gas suspension means no production by almost half of the industry and a loss of millions of rupees to the exchequer.
The 'discriminatory attitude' of the government was not only denting its goodwill and reputation but had also put a question mark on its ability to manage and govern things. He said that the units in Sindh were getting an almost uninterrupted supply except a two to three hour loadshedding.
They said that the gas suspension plan a death knell for export-based industry and productivity, the LCCI office-bearers sought the Prime Minister's intervention and help for a regular supply of gas to the industry in Punjab. How the industry would be able to manage export orders worth millions of dollars when there is no gas? What about the thousands of daily wagers who have a single source of income? And above all, they added, how the government would convince both the local and foreign investors for investment when it was unable to manage the supply of gas to existing industrial units. He said that the decision would send a very negative signal to the foreign buyers.
"Instead of coming up with some sort of relief package, the industry is being pushed to the wall. The gas suspension for three months is tantamount to throttling the industry to death."
Giving a break-up, the LCCI and FCCI office-bearers said that the industry was denied gas for 77 days in 2008-09, 100 days in 2009-10 and 160 days in 2010-11. "Over 70 percent hike in power tariff in the last four months had made the scenario more complex and complicated. To run the industry on alternative fuel, including diesel and furnace oil is not a viable proposition."
The shortage of gas is not the only issue its improper distribution also remains a cause of worry. The LCCI had sent an SOS call to the federal government on continuous energy disruptions as the gas and electricity were a prerequisite for the smooth functioning during winter. The government should divert all new-found gas to the network of Sui Northern Gas Pipeline Limited network.
Expeditious import of 500 million cubic feet gas per day LNG would considerably overcome the gas shortage for the industry. Despite competitive quality and price, Pakistan exporters were unable to make delivery on time, they added. They said that it seemed that some elements in the Gas Department were hatching conspiracies against the government to defame it.
The LCCI office-bearers said that the businessmen were unable to understand that why the business community was not taken into confidence over industry-related issues and if the SNGPL was facing some supply related issues they must bring them to the notice of real stakeholders well ahead of time. "It would have taken about two years to set up a system for LNG supply, had the government been accepted LCCI proposal a couple years ago," they said.