Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (OGRA) is set to appoint Senior Executive Director (SED) Media Affairs within next week, before the retirement of Member (gas) Aamir Naseem. Sources said that the Authority recently created a new position of senior executive director (SED) media affairs and the entire process for it is complete.
Reliable sources told Business Recorder on Monday that the member (gas) OGRA will retire on December 26 and after his retirement the Authority will become Quorum-less, as participation of three out of four members is necessary to take any important decision.
In recent past, the Authority for almost two years worked without complete quorum and as a result two gas utilities, Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Limited (SNGPL) and Sui-Southern Gas Company Limited (SSGCL), failed to authenticate their annual accounts for over two years. "The OGRA is incomplete in the absence of a permanent member (Oil) and member (gas); therefore, it cannot take necessary decisions," sources said. The post of member (oil) post has been vacant since 2014. Though the Authority advertised the position a number of times and conducted interviews, every time it failed to appoint the member (oil), the sources maintained.
OGRA Chairperson, Uzma Adil has decided to appoint SED to give presentations over hosts of issues related to different functions of the Authority for which an advertisement was published in national media on November 14, 2016 and interviews were finalised on December 15, 2016.
Sources said that many senior executive directors of the Authority with relevant experience and qualification have been waiting for their promotion since long but it seems that high-ups of the Authority have decided not to promote them and to hire a new person of their own choice. The Authority has short-listed five candidates for the position. According to the advertisement, the candidates having domiciles of Sindh, Balochistan and Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) as well as members of minorities were encouraged to apply for the post.
Sources said creating better image in media or consultation was the only motive behind this move; the current OGRA spokesman has vast journalistic experience. On the other hand, the issue of appointment of member (oil) has landed in Islamabad High Court (IHC) as the Authority while scrapping the earlier process of the appointments gave a new advertisement in the national media, but a senior official of the OGRA went to court against the move. When contacted, the OGRA chairperson said that the move has been taken to improve consultation with all the relevant stakeholders at federal and provincial levels.