KOHAT: The armed people of Taulanj Jadid and Ghurazai villages here continued holding demonstrations and suspending work on a well of the Hungarian oil and gas exploration company, MOL, for the second consecutive day on Tuesday to protest non-provision of natural gas facility to their localities.

The protesters also included local bodies’ members.

Talking to Dawn on the occasion, deputy chairman of Taulanj Jadid union council Jannat Mufti and general councillor Aif Haji accused the local Maliks of taking the annual land rent of Rs2.5 million from the company for last four years, and not paying a penny to the villagers.

They said their armed men would continue to guard the installation until the firm signed an agreement with them for provision of gas and rent to the villagers.

Malik Arif, Taulanj general councillor, told Dawn unless the MOL company signed an agreement with them they would not allow work on the oil rig. He said that for couple of years a land dispute continued between Parshai and Taulanj villages which had now been settled and that the mountain where the gas facility had been discovered lied within five kilometers radius of Taulang union council, making it eligible for having the gas facility.

Gumbat union council nazim Tahir Khan said the Gumbat town, which was at a few kilometres distance from Taulanj and Ghurazai, had already been provided gas facility in 2010.

However, the officials of the company took the plea that it was not within their power to provide the gas, and said the SNGPL was the concerned department for the purpose.

Tahir Bashir, a company official, said a plant would be established in Gandiali Payan after which main pipeline would be linked with the one already going to Punjab to supply gas to the villages. He said the people should wait till completion of all the groundwork.

The protesters dispersed peacefully after talks were held with the Gumbat police and the MOL management.

Meanwhile, local Maliks called on deputy commissioner Akmal Khan on Tuesday and asked him to take punitive action against the LB members and villagers for blocking the work on the gas well as they (Maliks) were the true representatives of the area.

BOMB DEFUSED: The Jungle Khel police on Tuesday defused an improvised explosive device weighing seven kilogrammes.

The police got information from a farmer that something suspicious was lying in his fields.

The police reached the scene in Chakar Mela and found a bomb made of gas cylinder attached to a remote control, ball bearings, and prima card. They called the bomb disposal squad personnel who defused it.

A case was registered against unknown terrorists and investigations were launched.

Published in Dawn, May 3rd, 2017