KARACHI – All public transport vehicles including mini buses and large passenger buses will be converted to pollution free and economical fuel compressed natural gas (CNG).
This was stated by Sindh Minister for Transport Akhtar Husain Jadoon, while speaking at the seventh CNG Conference and Exhibition CONEX 2011 at a local hotel. The conference was organised by the national forum for environment and health. The All Pakistan CNG Association Minister said that President Asif Ali Zardari has asked the Sindh government to convert all mini buses and passenger vehicles on CNG in order to ensure better and cheaper travel options.
Jadoon said that, under a pilot programme, all two-stroke auto rickshaws are being converted to four-stroke technology and switched to CNG in the first phase. He said that oil prices would continue to rise and the country cannot afford to import costly diesel for the transport sector. He stated that energy shortage has hit industrial production of the country by at least $1.5 billion.
In addition, a loss of $3.0 billion and 300,000 labourers is feared in the current year. Addressing the conference, BYCO Petroleum Business Marketing President Kalim Siddiqui said that energy, especially natural gas reservoirs, are depleting and further exploration work is imperative to enhance the existing capacity.
He said that the Iran Pakistan gas Pipeline and the proposed Turkmenistan, Afghanistan, Pakistani and India gas project (TAPI) needs to be seriously considered as cheaper sources of energy are urgently needed to fulfill the rising demands.
