ISLAMABAD: Minister for Power Omar Ayub Khan on the opening day of the new National Assembly session on Wednesday faced the wrath of the opposition members, mainly belonging to the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), over the ongoing gas shortage in the country, especially in Sindh and Balochistan, when he tried to put the blame for the present crisis on the two previous governments.

The opposition blasted the minister, who also holds the additional charge of the petroleum division, for allegedly playing politics on the gas shortage issue and trying to pitch the provinces against each other.

At the outset of the sitting, the opposition also lashed out at the government for convening the assembly session on a short notice, thus depriving a majority of the members of participation in the business on the opening day.

The power minister invited the rage of the opposition when responding to a calling attention notice of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) members on the “unprecedented loadshedding of natural gas across the country”, he started uttering the same mantra of corruption of the past rulers, alleging that the PPP and the PML-N leaders during their governments did nothing for gas exploration in the country over the past 10 years as their focus was on plundering the exchequer through money laundering.

Omar Ayub blames PPP, PML-N govts for doing nothing for exploration over 10 years

Mr Khan, who is known for changing political loyalties and had contested the previous election from his Haripur hometown on a PML-N ticket, said the demand for gas had increased due to the prevailing cold wave in the country and the present government had pumped nearly 50 per cent more gas as compared to the last year to the Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Limited (SNGPL) which was responsible for supply of gas to Punjab, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and other upper regions.

The minister said the government was giving preference to domestic consumers, announcing that the issue of gas supply to CNG stations would be resolved next month. He held the PPP’s Sindh government responsible for the gas crisis in the province. He alleged that the PPP-led provincial government was not giving “right of way” to the federal government for laying a 125km-long gas pipeline which was one of the reasons for the gas shortage in the province.

“By not giving the right of way, their [PPP] government has committed cruelty with the people of Sindh,” he said.

Mr Khan also accused the PPP of using Article 158 of the Constitution for political gains, saying that every citizen had equal right to the country’s resources.

Shaza Fatima Khawaja of the PML-N asked the minister not to pitch Punjab and Sindh against each other on the issue and, instead of blaming the past governments, tell them about the steps taken by the present regime to improve the situation.

Though the calling attention notice had been moved by the PML-N members and, under the rules, no other member can speak on the matter, the PPP members got the opportunity to respond to the minister when Deputy Speaker Qasim Khan Suri, who belongs to Balochistan, out of the way gave floor to Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam (JUI-F) member from Mastung Syed Mehmood Shah to also raise the issue of gas shortage in the province.

The JUI-F MNA claimed that more than 90 per cent areas of Balochistan were not getting gas facility and in the remaining localities, gas pressure was very low and the people were facing hard time in the extreme cold conditions. He also showed a bill of over Rs500,000 and said this bill had been received by a domestic consumer and not by an industry.

Amidst desk-thumping by the opposition members, the deputy speaker himself reprimanded the power minister, saying that he had also been receiving messages day and night from his constituents in Quetta complaining non-availability of gas despite the fact that Balochistan was the first province which started gas supply.

“Explain,” the deputy speaker directed the minister, who again took the floor and declared that the main reason for gas shortage and low pressure was “leakage and stealing of gas by making holes in the pipelines”. He said Balochistan generated Rs6 billion in revenue from gas, whereas gas worth Rs12bn was wasted in the province. He said they did not want a collision and, therefore, they were holding talks with the gas stealers.

The minister said the government had approved a project of replacing old pipelines with the new ones, expressing the hope that the situation would improve upon its completion.

Two outspoken MNAs of the PPP — Agha Rafiullah and Shazia Marri — blasted the minister for targeting their party and asked him to respect the Constitution and not create rift among the federating units.

Accusing the minister of doing point scoring, Ms Marri read out Article 158 of the Constitution which states: “The province in which a well-head of natural gas is situated shall have precedence over other parts of Pakistan in meeting the requirements from that well-head, subject to the commitments and obligations as on the commencing day.”

She claimed that Sindh was getting only 1,100mmcfd gas despite producing 2,500mmcfd. Responding to the minister’s allegation regarding the right of way, she said the proposed project would only provide 23mmcfd gas and would not be able to meet the gas shortage in Sindh. She said the people of Sindh were tolerating the situation because they wanted to see the people of Pakistan sharing natural resources.

“Do not push Sindh to the wall. Don’t do what you have done with Balochistan,” she said, asking the government not to violate Article 158 of the Constitution.

Earlier, the opposition members questioned the logic behind the decision to convene the assembly session in haste.

Former prime minister Raja Pervez Ashraf also protested the convening of the session at such a short notice. “The members are sitting at Karachi and Multan airports. People are unable to come from Balochistan,” he said.

PML-N parliamentary leader in the NA Khawaja Asif said Prime Minister Imran Khan “had promised that he would himself come to the house to give replies to the questions”.

“The PM has not come to the assembly for the last whole quarter starting from October,” he pointed out, adding: “The session was scheduled to start from January 10, but the government has suddenly summoned the sitting.”

He called upon the government “to maintain sanctity of the rules”.

Communications Minister Murad Saeed said the government had already introduced an amendment to the rules to allow ‘PM Question Hour’. “The issue is still being debated,” he said.

Published in Dawn, January 2nd, 2020