KARACHI: The Sindh Industrial Liaison Committee (SILC) meeting on Saturday noted that the suspension of gas supply by the Sui Southern Gas Company (SSGC) to the industries has resulted in a gas crisis which was intensifying and affecting production activities.

The SILC meeting, chaired by Sindh Governor Imran Ismail, discussed in detail issues faced by the industry including gas supply and electricity shortages.

The SSGC MD briefed the meeting that due to acute maintenance at the KPT gas terminal, gas supply to non-export industries had been stopped. This was followed by a 50 per cent cut in supply to captive power plants to ensure gas availability to residential customers, he said. Stakeholders had been informed already about this step in advance, he added.

The KPT gas terminal maintenance issue will be resolved during the first week of July and the gas supply to the industrial units will be restored, as per the schedule, by July 10, the SSGC MD said.

He also undertook to circulate the maintenance schedule, if any in future, to the industries beforehand in order to rule out any possible difficulty to the industries.

The governor assured the committee members that federal government would be consulted on the gas issue and provision of furnace oil and RLNG to industries in order to extend maximum possible support to industrial sector.

The forum agreed to introduce the staggering holiday system so as to bridge the shortage of gas as a short-term measure. SSGC will provide a schedule to the industries and the industries will be bound to follow the schedule. In case of any violation, SSGC will be authorised to take an appropriate action.

A formal written agreement between SSGC and industries regarding staggering holiday system is likely to be signed shortly to overcome the issue till the resolution of the matter in July.

Published in Dawn, June 27th, 2021