ISLAMABAD: Federal Minister for Petroleum and Natural Resources Shahid Khaqan Abbasi has claimed that his ministry never issued gas connection without merit.
Addressing on the floor of National Assembly, the minister said that the ministry had not installed a single gas meter in violation of merit and rules, adding, “Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Limited (SNGPL) only provides legal connections as per turn and merit criteria of the company.”
Abbasi said it was the hallmark of the present government that it was religiously following the policy of merit under which new gas connections for domestic consumers were being given without any discrimination.
The minister maintained that as per the policy, it takes around six months to process an application for a domestic connection. “For an urgent connection the fee is Rs25,000 and the meter is installed after a three-month period,” he explained.
He also informed the House about the gas theft scale in some areas of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, and said theft worth Rs6 billion was occurring in one of the districts falling in the category of ‘troubled areas.’ “The ministry in collaboration with the provincial government and local jirgas is making efforts to streamline matters and make recoveries,” he added.
He further added that petrol stocks were sufficient for seven days and the monthly product review meetings were conducted to closely monitor the demand and supply position in the country. “
