KOHAT, Nov 8 A jirga held here on Saturday asked the Sui Northern Gas Pipelines (SNGPL) to provide gas facility to the villages of the district with immediate effect.

The jirga presided by the Regional Coordination Officer, Kohat, Omer Khan Afridi was attended among others by NWFP Minister for Jails, Mian Nisar Gul Kakakhel, MPA Dr Iqbal Din Fana, members of a committee of elders from Banda Daud Shah, district coordination officers and district police officers of Karak and Kohat.

The participants took serious notice of the absence of the general manager of the SNGPL NWFP chapter, Momin Khan Khattak, in the meeting, and decided to remove the regional in-charge of the company for ignoring the demands of the residents of the two districts.

The jirga discussed the issue of the provision of gas to the region, lying of pipelines and the provision of alternate land to the local people and decided to raise the issues with managing director of the SNGPL, Rasheed Lone, at a meeting scheduled to be held in Islamabad on Nov 15.

Mian Nisar Gul said that he would not allow the company to exploit the residents of the Karak district and promised to resolve the dispute through dialogue. He took exception to the violation of the agreements the SNGPL signed with the people.

Commissioner, Kohat division, Omer Afridi expressed anguish over the absence of senior officials of the oil and gas companies in the meeting and only sending their most junior staff.

He asked the companies to expedite work on provision of gas to the said villages to remove unrest among the people. He advised the managements of the companies to meet the parliamentarians to resolve the bottlenecks.

MPA Dr Iqbal Din Fana told the participants that he would take into confidence all the elected representatives on the matter and launch an effective movement for the just rights of the people of the area.