Petroleum, Energy Ministers meet CM over Sindh's gas, power woes

KARACHI: Federal ministers for petroleum and energy Ghulam Sarwar and Umar Ayub Khan Friday held meetings with Chief Minister of Sindh Syed Murad Ali Shah here in the context of power and gas woes of the province, ARY News reported.

Chief Minister Shah informed petroleum minister Ghulam Sarwar about the issue of gas load shedding in province.

“Several industrial units have been closed leaving thousands workers jobless,” Sindh CM said. The chief minister informed the petroleum minister that CNG stations have shutdown in Sindh and public transport vehicles have vanished from roads.

The chief minister also demanded representation of Sindh at the boards of directors of the gas companies.

Petroleum Minister Sarwar Khan assured chief minister Shah that he will brief Prime Minister Imran Khan about the situation.

CM Murad Ali Shah in meeting with Federal Minister for Power Omar Ayub, said that power transmission is a provincial matter and urged for improvement in the transmission system.

Chief Minister urged for improvement in power distribution adding that the provincial government has paid an amount of 27bln rupees outstanding against Hyderabad Electricity Supply Company (Hesco) and Sukkur Electricity Power Company (Sepco).

It was agreed that Check Meters will be installed in Sindh for power theft detection.

The federal authorities had promised to install these meters within six months but not installed yet, after passage of two years, the CM complained.

Energy minister Ayub promised an early installation of these meters. He sought the Sindh government’s help to end the ‘kunda culture.’

CM Shah said that the electricity theft committed by a few people but the power officials shutdown electricity supply to whole villages. He also urged for using power theft detection technology to curb the menace.

The federal and provincial secretaries were also present in the meeting.