FPCCI President Mian Muhammad Adrees has expressed concern over the moratorium on new gas connections to multi-storey buildings. He was speaking at a meeting with a delegation of ABAD, who visited the FPCCI Head Office, here on Monday.
ABAD Chairman M Junaid Ashraf Taloo told the FPCCI President that an amount of over Rs 200 billion related to different projects consisting of 25,000 housing units/flats had been blocked. He said that these units were awaiting gas connections without which the people were reluctant to get possession of their units.
He further informed that these units hardly needed 0.00062 MMCDF gas which was not a big deal for the government. Moreover, the builders were also avoiding work on new housing projects due to liquidity problems and moratorium on gas connections. Speaking on the occasion, the President FPCCI said that Sindh province was producing more than 70 percent natural gas and according to 18th Amendment, it had the right to utilise natural gas. He further said that it was a common criteria in the world that a domestic consumer was always given preference. In Punjab province the government declared moratorium on the supply of gas to CNG stations, giving preference to the domestic users; while in Karachi, the domestic consumer was deprived of this basic necessity, he regretted.
He further said that the time period for moratorium on gas connections had already ended and now new gas connections to housing projects should be restored. He urged both the federal and provincial governments to lift ban on new gas connections, particularly for projects having small residential units.-PR