Wednesday, 10 July 2013

Ban on CNG use to harm economy: APCNGA

ISLAMABAD: The All Pakistan CNG Association (APCNGA) said on Tuesday that shutting down the CNG sector would badly affect the country146s economy, not only because the consumers would bear the brunt of inflation, but also because the investment of Rs400 billion made in the sector would go down the drain.
The APCNGA also blamed the Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (Ogra) for hatching conspiracies against the CNG sector.
Winding up of CNG from the country would not only cause severe loss to those who have invested in the sector but the owners of 3.5 million vehicles who have converted to CNG would also be facing serious problems, said Ghiyas Abdullah Paracha, Chairman Supreme Council APCNGA.
Besides, the vehicle owners would be using expensive petrol if CNG is not there.
The APCNGA office bearers claimed that the Ogra had been violating its own rules and misguiding courts to destroy CNG sector to appease powerful energy mafia, and urged the prime minister to take note of the plot.
Paracha said thousands of licences of the CNG stations had been cancelled illegally on the pretext of clause 18 of the CNG rules 1992, despite that there is no mention to cancel licences in the said rule.
Addressing a press conference, he said the Supreme Court in its decision on July 5 has not ordered to cancel the stations licences, while its order number SCMIR-705 (1995) said that licences of pumps having no-objection certificate (NOC) cannot be cancelled on safety concerns.
It is strange that more countries around the world are now turning towards CNG as it is not only environment friendly and gives long-term benefits to the economy, but also because it was cheaper than oil, the APCNGA leaders said.
Paracha said countries including the United States have recently started to promote CNG while those having no natural gas have been importing LNG to convert it to CNG before providing it to masses and public transport.

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