October 31, 2018: Mr. Zahid Mazhar, Chairman, All Pakistan Textile Mills Association, Sindh-Balochistan Region has appealed to the Prime Minister of Pakistan, Mr. Imran Khan and the Federal Minister for Petroleum & Natural Resources, Mr. Mr. Ghulam Sarwar Khan to issue instructions to Sui Southern Gas Company Limited (SSGCL) to immediately withdraw the notices of closure of gas to Captive Power Plants for three months i.e. 1st December 2018 to 28th February 2019.

In a statement issued to the press, Mr. Zahid Mazhar said that the issuance of notice by SSGCL for closure of gas to Captive Power Plants for three months means depriving the industries of Sindh from their constitutional right in supply of required gas under Article 158 of the Constitution. He further said that as per Article 158 of the Constitution, the Province in which a well-head of natural gas is situated shall have precedence over other parts of Pakistan in meeting the requirements from that well-head.

He said that the province of Sindh is producing about 67 percent of gas and consuming only 39 percent of the gas produced in the country, even then the industries of Sindh province are denied of their Constitutional Right guaranteed by the Constitution of Pakistan. He further said that the textile industry is not only facing the problem of weekly closure of Gas on every Sunday but also facing the problem of low Gas pressure. Closure of gas to Captive Power Plants for three months would aggravate the current economic situation as disconnection of gas supply for three months to the textile mills will compel them to close down their operations resulting in declines of exports contrary to the intent of the present  government which is trying to increase it.

Mr. Zahid Mazhar urged the Federal Government to look into this issue on urgent basis and issue instructions to SSGCL to withdraw their notices and provide uninterrupted gas supply to the industry of Sindh and Baluchistan as the consequences of closure of industry would create not only irreparable losses to the economy of Pakistan but would also create law & order situation due to unemployment of large number of workers employed in these industries.

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