The Islamabad Women’s Chamber of Commerce and Industry (IWCCI) on Sunday said that CNG pricing issue is being delayed deliberately to please the hierarchies of influential sectors at the cost of the masses.
Regretting apathy of the rulers and silence of main opposition parties over the plight of the masses, the IWCCI representatives said that the crisis would have an impact on the outcome of the upcoming elections.
Politicians and “babucracy”, none of whom belonged to middle class or were consumers of the economical fuel, had remained indifferent to the problems of the masses which was contributing to the unpopularity of the government, said IWCCI President Farida Rashid.
Speaking to the business community, she said that the Supreme Court in its landmark decision provided relief to the masses which had been transformed into a never-ending crisis by some politicians to meet their personal agendas.
A ministry known for exceeding its authority, forwarding illegal summaries and conspiring against the Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (OGRA) was behind the crisis, she observed.
Farida said that additional as well as questionable incentives were being offered to foreign investors in oil and gas sector, but the CNG sector in which locals have invested Rs 400 billion was subjected to intrigues.
She further said that the investors in the CNG sectors would reinvest their income and would not transfer funds abroad like others. Banning any type of vehicle from using economic fuel was illegal and against the constitution, she added.
Moreover, the IWCCI president said that less than one per cent gas was wasted in Bangladesh while the ratio stood at 13 percent in Pakistan which could otherwise be used to generate 2,000 megawatts of power.
Furthermore, she said that a major part of wasted gas was stolen with connivance of officials concerned, but the ministry of petroleum wanted to charge honest consumers for its inefficiency and mismanagement which was both illegal and unconstitutional.
Farida also said that efforts to bring the OGRA under the clutches of the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Resources (MPNR) or to dissolve it would open the flood gates of corruption which would reverse the progress of the country.
