Army, WAPDA, Railways among top gas defaulters

[LahoreEstate]

* Babar Ghauri says Gwadar Port still under Ports and Shipping Ministry’s control
By Irfan Ghauri

ISLAMABAD: There are a total of 82,724 gas defaulters across the country, with the Pakistan Army, the Water and Power Development Authority (WAPDA) and Pakistan Railways being the biggest offenders, the National Assembly was informed on Friday.

In a written reply to the NA, the Ministry of Petroleum informed the House that there were 48,465 natural gas defaulters in Punjab, 10,055 in the NWFP, 18,072 in Sindh and 6,132 in Balochistan. However, the ministry did not give details of the outstanding amount.

The ministry said that under a new recovery plan, it would hold regular meetings with the major defaulters in order to ensure they cleared their outstanding dues. It said provincial chief secretaries would also be engaged in the recovery process.

To another question, the petroleum ministry said exploration and production companies had earned Rs 59,138 million from oil and gas in Kohat.

Control: Minister for Ports and Shipping Babar Ghauri said the ministry still had the administrative control over Gwadar Port and only operational matters were under the purview of the Port of Singapore Authority.

To another question, he said a total of 11 ships were being managed and operated by the Pakistan National Shipping Company (PNSC) while four more ships would be procured in the next year. In a written reply, Communications Minister Arabab Alamgir Khan said the National Highway Authority was working on 28 road construction projects across the country. He said the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank assisted projects would be completed at a cost of over Rs 378 billion.

Also, Minister for Local Government Abdul Razzaq Thahim informed the House that 5,859 development projects had been completed during the last two years across the country under the Khushal Pakistan Programme at a cost of over Rs 4 billion.

The minister for law and justice informed the NA that the Asian Development Bank had provided $330 million for judicial reforms under the Access to Justice Programme.

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