Sunday, January 11, 2009
Khalid Iqbal
Rawalpindi
All Pakistan CNG Owners Association (APCOA) Saturday decided to go on countrywide strike for an indefinite period from Monday against ‘11 per cent’ increase in gas rate announced by the government for CNG stations.
More than 50 per cent CNG stations in Rawalpindi were already closed down after concerned authorities suspended their gas supply for maintaining gas pressure for residential areas.
APCOA Vice Chairman Ghayas Ahmed Piracha told ‘The News’ Saturday that association is still trying to negotiate with the government officials to resolve the issue of gas price hike but it seemed concerned authorities were not interested in resolving the matter. He said after no response from authorities they called an emergency meeting in which CNG owners of Punjab, NWFP, Sindh and Balochistan participated. The meeting decided to shut down CNG stations countrywide for an indefinite period from Monday night, he said.
He said that all CNG owners and employees along with their families would hold protests and also stage sit-in against the government’s decision to raise price of gas by 11 per cent to CNG stations from January 1.
He said that more than 70 per cent CNG stations had already been lying closed in Punjab and NWFP for the last three days.
He said that it was very easy for the CNG owners to take advantage of the price increase but consumers could not afford gas at the rate of Rs55 per kilogram. He said after narrowing down the gap between petrol and gas prices no one would use gas kits in their vehicles and they would prefer to use petrol. He said due to the reason the CNG business would be affected in the country. He said that nowadays more than 85 per cent transports are using CNG.
Some CNG consumers told ‘The News’ Saturday that they would face great difficulties during the strike.
Muhammad Iqbal Chaudhary, a CNG consumer, said that there should be understanding between the government and CNG station owners to avoid strike in the country otherwise they would face great difficulties.
Malik Muhammad Mumtaz, a government official, said that the government should have not increased the price of gas, as it would affect common man. He said majority of transportation is being done on CNG and strike would badly hurt the movement of citizens.