Failed policies of incompetent federal govt have caused gas crisis, says Wahab

Karachi Metropolitan Corporation (KMC) Administrator Barrister Murtaza Wahab, who also acts as the spokesperson for the Sindh government and adviser to the chief minister on law, on Thursday criticised the federal government for the gas crisis in the country, especially in Sindh.

He said the federal government was led by incompetent Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), which had made the life difficult for the people of the country. "One crisis after another is springing up in the country due to the incompetence of the PTI government which is taking revenge on the people by creating a gas crisis," he added.

Sindh supplied gas to 65 per cent of the country but gas was not available for the people of the province, Wahab said. "There is no gas in houses during the day while the worst load-shedding is also taking place in the industries due to which the export orders of the industrialists are not being fulfilled on time," the KMC administrator lamented.

He said that due to the failed policies of the federal government, from the general consumers to the industrialists were facing the worst gas situation.

"If there was a fair distribution of gas, there would be no shortage. The problem is only inefficiency," he said. Wahab added that Sindh could meet the gas needs of the whole country and the reason behind the gas crisis was not depletion of the natural resource but incompetence of the federal government.

Water issues

Sindh and Balochistan have agreed to amicably resolve their mutual issues related to water through talks. The consensus to this effect was reached on Thursday as Sindh Irrigation Minister Jam Khan Shoro met his counterpart from Balochistan Muhammad Khan Lehri at the former’s office in Karachi. The meeting took into consideration water problems between Sindh and Balochistan, Kirthar Canal, Pat Feeder Canal and other issues related to the irrigation sector.

The Balochistan irrigation minister demanded on the occasion that Balochistan should get water supply according to the standard gauge from the Pat Feeder Canal in Sindh and de-silting of the canal should also be carried out. To this, the Sindh irrigation minister asked the provincial irrigation secretary, Sohail Ahmed Qureshi, to ensure de-siling of the Pat Feeder Canal, and sort out water supply issue related to the Kirthar Canal and the related irrigation issues.

The meeting was also attended by the Balochistan irrigation secretary and a member of Indus River System Authority. Meanwhile, Sindh Energy Minister Imtiaz Ahmed Sheikh said that both Sindh and Balochistan should adopt a collective strategy to sort out energy problems related to the smaller provinces in the country.

Sheikh stated this while meeting Pakistan Peoples Party Balochsitan President Mir Changez Jamali. The meeting took into consideration energy issues of the country and gas shortfall faced by the two provinces.

The Sindh energy minister expressed concern on the occasion that the provinces which had sufficient indigenous energy resources were being deprived of gas. He said the Pakistan Peoples Party always stood for safeguarding the due constitutional rights of Balochistan.