ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Imran Khan on Wednesday feared that the country would face severe gas crisis in the coming winter and the year after, and stressed the need for consensus among provinces and the Centre on important national issues, including electricity and gas.

“I see a severe gas crisis in the country during the coming winter that will become worse in the next year,” Prime Minister Khan said while addressing a seminar on ‘Sustainability, Security and Affordability of Natural Gas Supply in Pakistan’.

The federal government had already warned of an impending gas shortage.

On Tuesday, Energy Minister Omar Ayub Khan had said: “We will be going towards massive (gas) loadshedding in the coming days.”

The prime minister said the provinces were facing gas shortage.

“Punjab has a deficit and is facing problems; Khyber Pakhtun­khwa says that it uses very little of the gas it produces,” he added.

The premier said although provinces had their own interest, national interest must be protected first because if the country fell behind, a province could not progress either.

He said a culture of debate on all important national issues must be promoted so that long-term planning could be made, just like in developed countries.

He gave the example of China, saying the country had developed at a rapid pace not seen before because its government had a robust system of debates.

“They have splendid debates. They have a great system of meritocracy and their leadership reaches the positions it is at through rigorous struggle. Secondly, they have great long-term planning. This is very important,” the prime minister said.

“When a country does long-term planning, it avoids situations like the one Pakistan is stuck in today,” he said, adding that it was very important to build consensus and create awareness among people so that they take the right decisions.

“When there is no consensus, provinces develop a feeling of being sidelined,” he said.

Prime Minister Khan said Pakistan had a lot of potential in the hydro-electricity sector but it had not been utilised because the past governments did not focus on it.

“No one thought about it because our system is such that (political parties) plan only for elections to achieve immediate results. Nobody thought about it, even during the military rule,” he said, adding: “If we had debated about what kind of energy mix Pakistan should have and what fuel should have been used to generate electricity, our industry would not be in trouble today and our people would not be burdened.”

He expressed the hope that the participants of the seminar, led by Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Petroleum Nadeem Babar, would reach a consensus and come up with a roadmap through which the country could overcome gas crisis.

Referring to subsidies, the prime minister said they were not being used for their “original purpose”.

“Subsidies are given for two reasons: to lift people up and to create wealth. Subsidies should increase wealth, GDP, per capita income and for a country like ours, [help with] returning loans. The recent presentation I received on subsidies revealed that totally different people are taking subsidies,” he said.

The prime minister expressed the hope that the seminar would also discuss alternative sources of gas and power generation.

He thanked the independent power producers (IPPs) for their agreement with the government.

“I am very thankful to the IPPs because the agreement with them will provide a huge relief to the people. The debate in the seminar is very important to see where we are going, how to tackle our depleting gas reserves and the difference between locally produced and imported gas,” he said.

“There is such a big gulf between imported gas and the price we sell it at which is increasing our circular debt. We are producing electricity at Rs17 per unit but selling it at Rs14 per unit which is adding to our circular debt,” the premier said, hoping that the seminar would present a roadmap for the future on its conclusion.

Speaking on the occasion, Nadeem Babar said: “The issue of Article 158 of the Constitution had been pending for 10 years and had since been taken over by other ground realities and more serious issues.” Based on demand growth and domestic gas production even if utilised in gas-producing provinces, Sindh would be facing shortfall in one-and-a-half years, followed by Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in two-and-a-half years and Balochistan in about three-and-a-half years, he said.

Meanwhile, Sindh, Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa joined hands to demand the Centre to ensure representation at forums deciding matter related to gas.

During the energy moot, Sindh’s Energy Minister Imtiaz Shaikh demanded provincial representation in the Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (Ogra) and in Intra-State Gas Company established by the federal government.

“No representation of provinces at forums like Ogra and Intra-State Gas Company; the federal government’s decision with regard to gas bears no standing,” the minister said.

Energy ministers for Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa also seconded the proposal made by their counterpart in Sindh, saying: “It is imperative to include provinces’ voice in the decision-making forums on gas affairs.”

Imtiaz Shaikh also emphasised that Sindh’s rural areas faced up to 18 hours of loadshedding which had impeded the province’s rural economy.

“The federal government should devise a mechanism to end long hours of loadshedding forthwith which is a serious cause of concern among the population,” he added.

Meeting with UNDP officials

In a separate meeting with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) representative in Pakistan, Eleanor Nicolita, the prime minister said utilisation of state resources for the welfare of people and development of the country was the government’s top priority.

He lauded the services of UNDP in the field of human development in Pakistan and assured the representative that his government would provide all possible assistance to ensure fulfillment of common goals.

He said in the past, the influential class had paralysed the system and took advantage of state resources.

Eleanor Nicolita appreciated the prime minister’s keen interest in human development and said adoption of sustainable development goals by the government and provision of effective strategies and resources for achieving them was highly commendable.

Published in Dawn, September 10th, 2020