‘Provinces must have due representation in state-owned oil, gas firms’

In a meeting held at the CM House on Thursday, Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah and Federal Minister for Petroleum and Natural Resources Shahid Khaqan Abbasi discussed multiple energy-related issues including gas loadshedding and Gas Development Surcharge (GDS) levies.

As per a communiqué issued, CM Shah told the federal minister of his recent meeting with industrialists in which they had expressed serious reservations over the weekly gas supply closures.

“The industrial sector remains the backbone of our economy and we must redress their grievances by better managing the gas load,” he said. 

The CM called for equitable distribution for all provinces, as enshrined in the constitution.

Federal minister Abbasi assured Shah that he would try to redress the grievances of Sindh’s industrial sector at the earliest.

Moreover, CM Shah said the Sindh government should be given due representation in state-owned oil and gas companies, stating that after the 18th amendment the provinces were shareholders in oil, gas and other natural resources along with the federal government. The ministers also discussed the issue of GDS and agreed that the matter would be taken up at the next meeting of the Council of Common Interests (CCI).

Encroachments

CM Shah has urged all local government representatives to work in earnest for removal of encroachments from their respective areas. “These encroachments have defaced our cities, towns and villages and continue to create serious traffic problems,” he said while talking to Sindh Chief Secretary Rizwan Memon.

He directed the CS to issue orders to district administrations to cooperate with local bodies’ representatives for removal of encroachments.