MARDAN: Two small provinces have rejected the monopoly to centralize the transmission line of Sui Southern Gas Pipe Lines and Sui Northern Gas Pipe Lines by the federal government and termed it as a violation of the 18th constitutional amendment.
An official of the Oil and Gas Development Corporation, on the request of anonymity, told The News that the idea floated by the Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (OGRA) was rejected by Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) and Sindh.
He revealed that earlier Pervez Khattak, the then chief minister of KP, had rejected the monopoly of transmission lines. The Sindh government, too, has rejected the proposal and termed it as a violation of the 18th amendment. However, he said OGRA has said that the four provinces will have their own managing directors with the authority over the production of gas but the main transmission lines would be in the control of the federal government. Sindh government has clearly rejected the idea and warned if the provincial government’s concerns were overruled, they will approach the court in this connection. He revealed that KP’s share of production of gas is much bigger than that of Punjab.
