The National Assembly passed six bills on Wednesday.
The House passed “The Electoral Rolls (Amendment) Bill, 2015” and “The Delimitation of Constituencies (Amendment) Bill, 2015”. The House also passed “The Safeguard Measures (Amendment) Bill, 2015, The Countervailing Duties Bill, 2015”, “The Anti-Dumping Duties Bill, 2015” and “The National Tariff Commission Bill, 2015”. These four bills have already been passed by the Senate.
The bills were moved by Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs Shaikh Aftab Ahmad.
Minister for Petroleum and Natural Resources Shahid Khaqan Abbasi told the House during question hour that the government accords top priority to the domestic sector and uninterrupted gas supply is being ensured to the domestic consumers in the country.
He said that low gas pressure may occur due to some technical problems which are timely resolved through round the clock customers’ services and field teams, adding that the government is making efforts to stop theft of gas and enhance recoveries.
He said 91.2 per cent losses in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa are in areas with poor law and order. Answering a supplementary question by Mahmood Khan Achakzai, Shahid Khaqan Abbasi said there is no hurdle in the provision of gas for any project or scheme in Balochistan.
He said the government is giving connections on merit. He said under Sui Northern Gas Pipeline, domestic gas connections are being given to those who had applied in third quarter of 2012 and in some areas to the applicants of 2013.
The minister said the price of LNG will be made public after the signing of a contract for the import of the commodity from Qatar. He said so far no contract has been made for this purpose.
To a question, Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs Shaikh Aftab Ahmad told the House that the proposed Peshawar-Kabul Motorway is designed for four lanes. He said the major portion of the proposed 265 kilometer motorway is in Afghanistan.
He said Pakistan government has contacted Afghan government to get their experts to prepare a feasibility study of the project but so far the Afghan government has not sent their experts. He said the whole expenditure of the project will be borne by Pakistan.
