ISLAMABAD: There will be more power and less loadsheding in the country this summer, thanks to Qatari liquefied natural gas (LNG) that will start flowing into the generation system for the first time by March 31, two federal ministers told the National Assembly on Wednesday.

But Petroleum and Natural Resources Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi refused to disclose what he said would be the “best price in Asia” the government would pay for LNG, saying the rate was still being negotiated and could be shared with parliamentary forums only after its approval by the Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) of the federal cabinet.

Know more: Pakistan signs agreement with Qatar for LNG import

Rejecting fears of “lack of transparency” in the LNG import raised in a call-attention notice tabled by five opposition members, the minister said the first shipment of the imported LNG would arrive at the Port Qasim in Sindh on Thursday and would flow into the system by the deadline of March 31.

That will result in 10 per cent increase in power generation than last year’s and a $300 million worth of annual savings to the generating companies.

Khawaja Asif told the house that loadshedding would decrease this summer because of the availability of more efficient LNG to four Independent Power Producers (IPPs) and Kot Addu Power Company (Kapco) that will use it for now.

Two female PPP lawmakers – Dr Azra Fazal Pechuho and Dr Nafisa Shah – were furious after the petroleum minister called their fears of a lack of transparency in the LNG deal “hilarious” and the water and power minister said education had done little to improve the attitude of some members.

At one point, Dr Shah’s mike was switched off on the chair’s order when she tried to respond to Khawaja Asif’s remark, saying she had the right to defend herself.

The tension prompted an intervention by opposition leader Khursheed Ahmed Shah, who also accused the treasury benches of deviating from a convention of consulting the opposition before seeking suspension of the requirement of a rule of the house rules of procedure for an immediate consideration of a bill.

Expression of regrets by Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs Sheikh Aftab Ahmed removed Mr Shah’s objection and paved the way for a smooth passage of the government’s Credit Bureaus Bill, 2015, which provides a comprehensive legal and regulatory framework for the incorporation and functioning of credit bureaus in Pakistan.

The house also passed, with a debate, another government bill that amends two sections of the Legal Practitioners and Bar Councils Act, 1973, — as recommended by the Pakistan Bar Council — to what a statement of objects and reasons says further regulate the disciplinary proceedings in the cases of grave professional misconduct by a lawyer and to prescribe for a maximum three months for the suspension of the lawyer and as many months for a tribunal’s decision after receiving a reference from a disciplinary committee.

Earlier in the sitting, a member of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM), Iqbal Mohammad Ali Khan, complained of harassment of his party lawmakers by unspecified security agencies at Karachi airport while they were on their way to Islamabad.

Security officials, he said, would ask party lawmakers to park their cars aside for their names to be checked against a list while no such checks were made about members of other parties.

Khawaja Asif, who is also the defence minister, promised to make a statement in the house on Thursday after making checks, though he said such a discrimination should not happen “in any circumstance” to a parliamentarian or an ordinary citizen.

Published in Dawn, March 26th, 2015

On a mobile phone? Get the Dawn Mobile App: Apple Store | Google Play