The Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) uesday urged the government on Tuesday to immediately initiate talks with the CNG Association and solve their issues as the protests and strikes had already pushed the country to the wall and its economy was facing multiple internal and external challenges.
LCCI President Irfan Qaiser Sheikh expressed these views while talking to All Pakistan CNG Association Senior Vice-Chairman Capt Shujah Anwar, CNG Association Lahore Chapter Chairman Sami Udddin, Senior Vice-Chairman Aleem Butt and Punjab General Secretary Khawaja Baber during his visit to a protest camp.
The LCCI president said the government’s decision to impose heavy taxes on CNG will ruin the investment of Rs 500 billion made in the sector. He said increasing the CNG prices will also dent the government’s reputation in the eyes of the common man who is the real user of the cheaper fuel.
Sheikh said the LCCI will continue to support the association in this just cause.
The LCCI president said the unjustified decision will affect both the local and the foreign investments in the country as no investor will dare to make a new investment when the government was trying to implement such unilateral anti-business decisions.
The CNG Association office-bearers informed the LCCI president that protests and demonstrations across the country against the hike in CNG price and the imposition of more CESS on CNG will continue.
They said the association had rejected any increase in the CESS tax on CNG in the budget therefore all the CNG stations across Pakistan will remain closed for an indefinite time period.
Strongly rejecting the increase in CNG prices, they termed it a well-cooked conspiracy against the only profitable industry of the country.
They said the people will not buy CNG at Rs 100 per kg as they were already pressed by the high power prices in the country.
They added that the CNG association will condemn any government’s decision which might ring increase CNG prices.
“An increase in the gas development surcharge up to 300 percent from the current 147 percent is also on cards that will result in a fresh surge in the CNG prices, they said. They alleged that at times, artificial scarcity of natural gas was created in the country and that the CNG industry was held responsible for it by government, although the sector only consumes eight percent of the total natural gas produced in the country.
