Gas shortages in SITE

KARACHI: The closure of gas supply to the SITE industries will prompt industrialists to close down units and lay off workers, an official said on Monday.
SITE Association of Industry President Muhammad Jawed Bilwani, addressing a news conference, said the Sui Southern Gas Company Limited (SSGC) should provide gas to SITE industries to protect hundreds of thousands of workers from losing their jobs.
Bilwani said a large number of factories were facing substantial decline in their production capacity due to gas outages.
He also expressed concerns over the non-seriousness of the Sindh government saying that frequent gas outages for the industry were a deliberate attempt to shatter the export business causing a loss of valuable orders for the next season.
“It is ironic that instead of providing uninterrupted gas to industrial units, SSGC is supplying gas to the CNG stations from the same pipeline laid in the SITE area,” he said.
He questioned the SSGC and Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority for giving permission to 34 CNG stations in the SITE Industrial area, which resulted in lowering gas pressure to the export-oriented industries.
Bilwani demanded of the government to lay a separate pipeline for supply of gas to CNG stations so the factories get the required gas pressure to continue production.