EDITORIAL: As if the power sector’s chronic circular debt wasn’t bad enough – just one of the many completely unnecessary and unforgiveable leakages that have become a normal part of Pakistan’s economy – now we have to deal with an out-of-control gas sector circular debt as well; and they both share some common reasons. It turns out that an estimated Rs40bn worth of gas is stolen from SNGPL (Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Limited) and SSGCL (Sui Southern Gas Company Limited) systems.
Just the fact that gas sector circular debt has swelled to Rs2 trillion already is enough to show how long this mess has been simmering, yet another parliamentary panel was made to hear the same story all over again with nobody any the wiser yet about how it is going to be handled. It’s very important to remember that theft is rampant in the entire energy sector, and at the end of the day the people have to literally pay for it. So, the theft goes on, which means the thieves make a killing and honest people get the bill for it. And nothing changes.
This reeks of incompetence, mismanagement and downright corruption all the way from the companies to relevant ministries. And if it’s still going on, even after all these years, it can only mean that there is no realisation at the top of the damage done to the national as well as household economy by daylight robbery of precious national resources.
Further proof of complete lack of planning is provided by another headline about how and why SNGPL has sought the intervention of the director general (gas) petroleum division to help deal with surplus RLNG cargo imported for September. The company has already tried its luck with PPL and PSO for shifting cargoes to other, higher demand months. But while PPL agreed to deferment of one cargo, PSO was not so forthcoming. And now nobody knows what to do.
It makes things much worse, of course, that it’s not just the energy sector that is plagued with problems that prudent economic management would never have allowed to fester in the first place. Surely, this and a lot many other issues would have come under the microscope during recent talks with the IMF.
The Fund has made it clear that it wants all such leakages blocked permanently, otherwise the EFF (Extended Fund Facility) may well stall midway. And we know from a very recent experience of a failed EFF that it means business with all its “upfront conditions” this time. Yet here we are, all set for the bailout but without doing any homework about questions that will definitely arise sooner or later in the programme.
The gas sector’s story is a particularly sad one. Few third world countries have ever managed to erect the kind of infrastructure that once brought natural gas to so many homes without much trouble for so long in Pakistan. And if it only hadn’t been for the corruption and corrosion of top-level politics that saw the most important ministries and enterprises stuffed with cronies and yes-men, the country would still have an impressive and efficient gas sector to boast.
Instead, it’s become an unbearable burden for the government and the people. One way or the other, this mess will have to be cleared. We’ve not done it on our own. But if we still don’t do it, even when the IMF forces us to, then the ruling elite will receive a very rude wake-up call; which, as always, will eventually have to be paid for by the common, hard-working, tax-paying people of this country.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2024
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