Army, Wapda and Railways major entities among 82,724 gas defaulters: petroleum ministry tells National Assembly

The Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Resources told the National Assembly on Friday that there are 82,724 gas defaulters with Wapda, Pakistan Army and Pakistan Railways as major entities which have to pay billions of rupees. In a written reply, the House was informed that 48,465 defaulters are in Punjab, 10,055 in NWFP, 18,072 in Sindh and 6,132 in Balochistan.
The ministry said that efforts are being made by the gas companies to recover the outstanding amount from these defaulters. Recovery letters are being sent to them whereas regular meetings are held with major defaulters to persuade the consumers such as Wapda, Pak Army and Railways to make payments.
The other steps being taken for recovery include daily visits of disconnection teams at defaulters' premises and last but not the least intervention of chief secretaries of all the provinces has also been sought to ensure smooth recovery of arrears from the public sector consumers. The House was informed that the NHA is working on a gigantic infrastructure development project with a view to providing quality road network in the country.
Communication Minister Arbab Alamgir Khan said the NHA is working on 28 road projects throughout the country with the financial assistance of the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank at a cost of over Rs 378 billion. He said nine of these projects have been completed while work is under way on the remaining and most of them would be completed by next year.
He informed the House that work on Faisalabad-Gojra section of the motorway is likely to commence by the end of this year. Local Government Minister Abdul Razzaq Thahim informed the House that 5,859 development projects were completed during last two years throughout the country under the Khushal Pakistan Programme at a cost of over Rs 4 billion.
Defence Minister Chaudhry Ahmed Mukhtar in a written reply told the House that the Civil Aviation Authority has already acquired 3,200 acres land for the airport near Fatehjang that is about 20 kms from Zero Point Islamabad and 23 kms from Saddar, Rawalpindi. He said the Civil Aviation Authority is completing this project on self-financing basis and has provided over Rs 5 billion for the current financial year.