The All Pakistan CNG Association (APCNGA) on Tuesday commenced hunger strike to protect interests of 80 million masses using CNG-powered vehicles for transportation, 3.7 million owners of vehicles using economical fuel, safeguard Rs 400 billion investment in the CNG sector and bring end to unjust load-shedding.
“We are protesting anti-CNG policies of the government, politically motivated gas distribution, 5-day gas load shedding in Punjab, continuous maltreatment, and abuse of power by authorities,” said Ghiyas Abdullah Paracha, Chairman Supreme Council APCNGA while speaking to reporters in the hunger strike camp.
Ghiyas Paracha said that in a bid to introduce costly imported LNG and LPG to benefit few influential, government has been systematically destroying CNG sector which will be resisted.
He said that efforts to familiarise masses with costly liquid fuels met with failure despite the fact that gas crisis was engineered to justify the wrongdoing. However, he said, in the process millions of jobs were lost, masses were punished and deprived of economical transportation and investment of around Rs 400 billion was put on stake, he said.
Paracha said that APCNGA has been blowing whistles over massive, continued and unprecedented corruption in the petroleum ministry while recent move of the Supreme Court to take notice of corruption in the LPG import scam proves that our stance was just and based on irrefutable facts.
Some influential officials and crooked businessmen have shaped a gang to deprive masses of their rights, relieve them of their hard earned money and lay waste to our investments, he said, adding that plundering national resources will not be allowed come what may.
A mafia has been using energy crisis to increase personal fortunes and they come up with another idea in case of failure of former move, Paracha informed. He said that many owners of CNG filling stations from all across Pakistan are not being provided gas since one and a half years despite directives of the Prime Minister and courts which is devastating their Rs 10 billion investments.
On October 04, 2011 and Jan 01, 2013 the Prime Minister issued orders to provide gas to our CNG outlets but it could not be implemented due to friction between petroleum ministry and Ogra. The all-powerful bureaucracy also violated the orders of High Courts directing implementation of PM’s orders, he added.
New CNG stations will not enhance the usage of gas but distribute load which will relieve masses that have to wait for hours to get their tanks refilled. Ghiyas Paracha demanded reversal of all the anti-CNG moves, abandoning projects which are to benefit few and reduce gas load shedding duration in Punjab. He asked the incoming government to revisit all the decision taken by the incompetent cabal to ensure smooth flow and give break to the masses.
