KARACHI: The Sindh government has decided to fight its case for resolving the current gas shortages in the country’s largest gas-producing province by taking onboard all parties represented in the assemblies, officials said on Thursday.

Officials in the provincial energy ministry said Energy Minister Imtiaz Shaikh called leaders of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan and discussed the issue with them.

“Minister Imtiaz Shaikh spoke to Kunwar Naveed Jamil, parliamentary leader of the MQM-P in the Sindh Assembly, and Khwaja Izharul Hasan and discussed the issue with them,” said a senior official in the Sindh government.

“The government has decided to take all parliamentary parties in the province along to resolve the gas crisis in Sindh,” he added.

Minister Imtiaz Shaikh speaks to Kunwar Naveed Jamil and Khwaja Izharul Hasan of the MQM-P

Mr Shaikh, meanwhile, spoke to reporters at his office in which he said Sindh had no role in discovering gas. “It is federal government’s subject and Sindh is still cooperating with Islamabad regarding this”.

He asked the federal government that it “must take action against the federal minister and authorities concerned for their failure in management of gas supply to Sindh”.

Minister Shaikh said the idea of an all-parties conference represented by all political entities

and civil society on the issue of gas shortage was under consideration.

“Our Sindh government will host an all-parties conference to discuss and evolve consensus on this issue after the approval of the Pakistan Peoples Party,” he said.

He added that he had already contacted leaders of several political parties who were partners in the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf-led federal government.

“I have requested them to raise their voice in the interest of the people of Sindh,” he said.

The energy minister termed it’s “unfortunate” that the MQM-P and the Grand Democratic Alliance were partners of the federal government.

“The people of Sindh have voted for these parties and it is time for them to raise their voice in the interest of the people of Sindh.”

Meanwhile, the adviser to the Sindh chief minister on law and spokesperson of the Sindh government, Barrister Murtaza Wahab, expressed his anguish that despite being the largest producer of gas countrywide, Sindh was not being provided its due share of gas.

“Sindh produces 70 per cent of gas in the country, yet it is not getting the share that could meet the need of its people,” said Barrister Wahab.

He said Sindh was getting just 67pc of its legal share of gas, which had created a gas crisis in the province.

He added that gas shortages had gravely affected households, transport and industries in Sindh.

“It will worsen the crisis even further if this crisis leads to closure of industries,” he warned.

Published in Dawn, January 3rd, 2020