Taking care of the basic needs of its citizenry is the foremost duty of any government. The Imran Khan government has failed on multiple fronts from economy to national security and even social and political stability. What is worse, however, is that as the harsh winter arrives in the country, the government has been unable to ensure that enough gas is available for all citizens.
Gas accounts for more than half of the country’s total energy consumption and is used both for commercial and for home consumption. According to news reports, in parts of Punjab and KP many gas consumers are already facing shortages, both in factories and at home. “The factors behind the current gas shortages are said to be an increased demand for gas for heating and cooking at home as temperatures fall, delay in the arrival of an LNG vessel, and higher gas retentions allowed to SSGCL for power generation by K-Electric.”
Other factors include the government’s “failure to procure LNG cargos for the first fortnight of the next month and higher prices of imports” all of which underscore the incompetence of the authorities responsible for the timely import of LNG to fill the supply gap.
This is despite assurances provided by SAPM for Petroleum Nadeem Babar that Pakistan “would not face a major gas shortage this winter.” Mr Babar had claimed “the government had made an all-out effort to maximise supplies in the gas network through increased RLNG imports.”
However, as with all things associated with this government, these were ‘words only, no action.’
