Children across Pakistan go to school in the early morning without any breakfast. Newborn babies are getting pneumonia because there is no hot water. Mothers find it difficult to cook the family meal on make shift wood fires because there is no natural gas in the pipelines. Yesterday it was shamefully announced in the Parliament that only 19 percent of the natural gas produced in Pakistan is supplied to domestic users while the rest is used by industries.
I would like to ask the government of Pakistan who gave them the right to deny natural gas to domestic users and where in the constitution it says that industries are considered first priority than domestic Pakistani users. And to add insult to injury, the government has also allowed extremely low rates, compared to domestic user rates, to these industries.
Why should the profits of a few trump the rights of all Pakistanis? Why should a few thousand workers ‘jobs be considered before the family meal of 190 million Pakistanis? Has our government become so separated from the common Pakistani that they do not even consider this 19 percent supply of natural gas to domestic users as unjustified?
The Minister of Energy and Power can delay the LNG deal for two years, just so they can unjustifiably raise imported LNG price to 12$ from the actual 6$, but he cannot fix the problem of domestic gas shortage by closing down the supply to industries during winter? Is this the Pakistan our forefathers founded where domestic users of natural gas are treated like second class citizens? Has Pakistan become a country where the local citizen is not allowed to use the country’s natural resources but profit making companies are allowed the same resources at 1000 percent marginalised rates. Shameful!
ENGR SHAHRYAR KHAN BASEER
Peshawar
