The ongoing energy crisis is due to corruption in the government at a massive scale, said Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) Karachi Ameer Muhammad Hussain Mahenti.
According to a statement released on Tuesday, Mahenti said ministries and departments concerned have been plundering the citizens’ money and have failed to resolve the escalating energy crisis in the country.
He said frequently suspending supply of CNG has affected the transportation service and the industries that rely heavily on it.
Due to the government’s corruption and closure of CNG filling stations, the people’s frustrations are about to culminate in the worst kind of agitation, he added.
“It was a ridiculous and nothing but a foolish step on behalf of a federal minister to conceal his inefficiency by holding the judiciary responsible for the energy crisis. The government should behave sanely, and realise and fulfil its responsibilities to resolve the public’s issues,” Mahenti said.
He said any further delay in taking rational steps to address the energy crisis and pacify the prevailing unrest among the masses, might result in it being too late for the government to control the public’s agitation in every nook and cranny of the country.
At a very crucial time, when the country needs more feedback from businessmen, they have invested Rs 465 billion in the CNG sector, but owing to the inefficiency of the government, the huge investment is on the verge of complete destruction, he added. Mahenti said the government is spending hefty funds on perks and luxuries of the cabinet, whereas the underprivileged have been pinned against the wall, as their buying power has been reduced enough that they could not even buy food for their families. He said despite skyrocketing prices of food and other essential goods, the government has decided to hike CNG prices by Rs 15 a kilogramme, which would draw the last nail in the coffin.
He demanded the government to reverse its decision of increasing CNG’s prices as well as of forced closure of CNG filling stations, so that trade activities could keep functioning in the best interest of the country and the people.