ISLAMABAD, May 14: Just a few weeks before handing over power to an elected government, the caretakers removed on Tuesday managing directors of three petroleum and natural resources companies.

An official notification issued with the approval of the prime minister’s secretariat said that Arif Hameed, the managing director of Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Limited (SNGPL), and Zuhair Siddiqui of Sui Southern Gas Company Limited (SSGCL) had been removed and asked to report to the ministry of petroleum and natural resources.

The government promoted Amir Tufail, deputy managing director of the SNGPL, and Rahat Kamal Siddiqui, deputy managing director operations of the SSGCL, to the post of managing director.

A petroleum ministry official said the removal of the two senior officials had been ordered by the prime minister’s secretariat without seeking the ministry’s opinion.

He claimed that a group of senior officials in the prime minister’s secretariat including principal secretary and head of PM’s Complaint Cell was responsible for removing the chief executives appointed by the PPP government.

But another official said the two had been removed because of their poor performance and gradual increase in the unaccounted for gas to an extent that the two companies were finding it difficult to meet their development and financial obligations.

He, however, agreed that it was inappropriate for a caretaker government to remove the senior executives soon after the elections and said the decision should have been left to the elected government.

He said the head of one of the gas companies had started consulting lawyers to challenge his ‘unceremonious’ removal.

The two officials are regular employees of the gas companies and had a couple of years to reach the age of retirement.

The government also removed the managing director of the Pakistan Mineral Development Corporation (PMDC) retired Brigadier Khalid Khokhar and appointed General Manager Saifullah Khan as the chief executive officer.

The PMDC looks after the mineral resources sector like salt and coal and precious metals.

Mr Saifullah was appointed as managing director of the PMDC a couple of years ago, but he was removed after intervention of the National Accountability Bureau.

The caretaker government had earlier removed Masood Siddiqui, managing director of the Oil and Gas Development Company Limited.