KARACHI: CNG dealers and transporters on Thursday announced to keep their businesses closed from next week for an indefinite period to protest against the frequent suspension of gas supply under the Sui Southern Gas Company (SSGC) load-management plan, which they said, had hit their businesses hard.

Representatives of the two associations — CNG dealers and transporters — gave a strike call beginning from Jan 5 while ‘offering the government enough time to reconsider its policy of gas load-management’.“After a series of failed meetings with the SSGC management regarding their discriminatory behaviour towards the CNG and transport sectors of Sindh, All Pakistan CNG Association (APCNGA) along with the Karachi Transport Ittehad have announced an indefinite closure of CNG stations and public transport in Karachi unless and until our demands are met. The protest starts from 8am on Sunday, January 5,” said an APCNGA statement.

The transporters said they were in agreement with the CNG dealers and the decision to call strike was made in the larger ‘interests of consumers,’ who had been emerged as the final loser of government’s inconsistent and non-serious attitude towards the core issue.

“We have been facing five-day gas suspension,” said Irshad Bukhari of the Karachi Transport Ittehad.He said the Sindh transport minister had approached his body after the announcement of strike call but the minister did not enjoy the level of authority that was required to resolve the gas supply crisis. He had been asked to request the chief minister to take up their case with the federal authorities, he added.