KOHAT: The protesting residents of Togh Bala allowed work on the under-construction oil plant on Wednesday night when the regional coordinator of Oil and Gas Development Company (OGDCL) promised to hold negotiations with them.

The area has three gas and oil producing wells. The residents of the area have been demanding construction of a water filtration plant, extension of Janazagah, jobs, an ambulance, solarisation of schools and payment for lands after the discovery of gas and oil.

The villagers had deployed two local elders at the under-construction plant on which work had been stopped by the protesters.

Manan Khan, a local elder, said that they had been demanding their right since 2019. He threatened that locals would enter the plant and take over it and if their demands were not accepted.

He said that they would also block Kohat-Rawalpindi road if it was necessary for acceptance of their demands.

He said that locals had been demanding construction of a water filtration plant, extension of Janazagah, jobs, a Rs10 million big ambulance, solarisation of schools, payment of land from billions of royalty since the discovery of oil and gas at Togh-1 in 2018, Togh-2 in 2019, Togh-3 in 2020 while drilling was under way at Togh-4.

The regional coordinator of OGDCL, Mushfiq Paracha, has promised to visit the area today (Friday) for holding talks with the locals.

Manan Kahn said that a four-member committee including former MPA from the area Amjid Afridi, local deputy commissioner, OGDCL regional coordinator and Senator Shamim Afridi had been constituted in 2019 but it failed to address the issues of locals.

He said that they asked the deputy commissioner to include a member from the local community in the committee but he replied that elected representatives were included in it on the orders of the government.

He said that gas was being supplied from the area to Sheikhan plant for purification and then distributed among the consumers there.

Published in Dawn, July 21st, 2023