PESHAWAR, Jan 24: The Awami National Party has taken exception to the suspension of gas supply to NWFP observing that the province does not get gas from the Sui field.

The Pakhtoon nationalist party claimed that the NWFP was supplied gas from the Attock Oil and Gas field, hence, suspension of gas supply to its commercial concerns and industrial units due to the blowing up of gas supply lines of the Sui field was unjustified.

In a press release issued here on Friday, ANP’s secretary information Haji Mohammed Adeel said that last year when new pricing system was introduced for the sale of gas, people representing various walks of life from the NWFP had agitated the same because gas consumers of the Frontier were made to pay more in comparison to the Punjab.

At that time, he continued, the Sui Northern Gas Pipeline and the federal authorities concerned had taken the stand that gas consumers of Punjab would pay less because they would be supplied gas from the Sui field. Whereas, the NWFP would get gas from the Attock fields whose product was much better in quality than the Sui fields’.

“At that time we were told that gas supplied from the Attock fields was fine in quality than the Sui fields. Similarly, the Attock field’s gas has greater pressure because of which gas consumers of NWFP were made to pay more than the rates charged to consumers in the Punjab,” said Adeel.

From the start of the current winter season, maintained Adeel, gas supply to the NWFP was curtailed by the SNGPL whereas the same was completely suspended to commercial and industrial consumers in the backdrop of the damage caused to the gas supply lines of Sui field recently.

“Following the recent sabotage activity, supply of gas to NWFP has been slashed by 90 per cent because the gas produced at the Attock field has been diverted to Islamabad and parts of Punjab to meet their daily consumption requirement,” claimed Haji Adeel, adding that it was a discriminatory act against the NWFP.