PESHAWAR: Former Federal Minister and ex-chairman Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Textile Mills Association (KPTMA) Salim Saifullah Khan has strongly condemned SNGPL’s decision to provide new gas connections on RLNG basis in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, declaring it a violation of the Constitution and a grave injustice to the province.
In a statement issued here on Monday, he stated that under Article 158 of the Constitution, the province producing gas has the first right to its use. “Khyber Pakhtunkhwa is self-sufficient in natural gas and has no need for costly imported RLNG. Such connections must only be given in parts of the country where Article 158 does not apply,” he asserted.
Khan also demanded that SNGPL immediately withdraw its arbitrary price hikes, reduce tariffs, and stop burdening the poor with the cost of line losses and collusion-based theft. “The people of KP are being forced to pay for SNGPL’s inefficiency and corrupt practices.”
He further stressed that the people of Lakki Marwat and Bettani, being residents of gas-producing areas, have the first right to supply, yet many towns and villages remain deprived of the natural gas. He urged SNGPL to address this long-standing denial without delay.
Issuing a stern warning, he concluded: “If this unjust decision is not reversed and prices are not reduced, province-wide protests will be launched and gas supply disrupted. The responsibility for all consequences will rest squarely with SNGPL.”
Copyright Business Recorder, 2025