SANGHAR: A large group of residents of Tando Adam and its surrounding villages who had been besieging the Naimat Bisal gas facility near the town for two days were persuaded to disperse on Friday evening by local political leaders.

The protesters had locked all five gates of the gas facility and held a sit-in outside blocking movement of oil tankers and employees since Thursday.

The facility is run by the United Energy-Pakistan and is meant for the Mirpurkhas- Khipro (MKK) block.

The protesters said that the company was not heeding their calls for development work in their area of operation, preferring locals in appointing workers and stop discrimination with residents of Sanghar in regularisation of service.

Their respresentatives, Razaq Makorani and Qalandar Abro, told the media that the people of the area had been tolerating the company’s attitude for 15 years but the pressing issue for which they had to besiege the facility was the extremely hazardous environment created by the use of explosives for oil exploration work.

They said the subsoil water being used by local people had become injurious to the public health due to extensive use of explosives over the past few decades.

Local political leaders intervened on Friday, held negotiations with the protesters and finally persuaded them to end their protest.

Published in Dawn, August 15th, 2015

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