Editorial By Siddiq Baluch Balochistan control over PPL & SSGC sought The PPL administration was locked in a controversy with former Senator Sanaullah Baloch over the dismal performance of PPL in Balochistan which was strongly resented by the administration with some figures that PPL made investment in financing drinking water supply and awarding scholarships to score of students in Bugti Tribal Area. The PPL and the SSGC came under criticism for the past many decades for working against the interest of Balochistan and its people denying legitimate share in revenue to the Government of Balochistan. It is a fact that the Baloch people were discriminated in providing jobs, mainly in the senior positions in both the gas companies. It is a fact that Mohajirs and Punjabis dominated both the organization for the past many decades and hardly Baloch were promoted to senior position or included in decision making process. It is also a fact that PPL had denied all information to the Government of Balochistan in regard to production, sale, revenue collected from sale and transmission natural gas to Punjab and Sindh and other vital details so that the Provincial Government should not use it in talks in NFC Awards in the past. In most of the parleys in regard to the NFC Awards, the Government of Balochistan was blank and handicapped as the PPL and other gas companies refused to provide details. Once a former PPP Government at the Centre tried to sell the major share of PPL to a dubious businessman which was strongly opposed and resented by the then Balochistan Government. The then Chief Minister offered to buy all the shares of the PPL if the Federal Government insisted to hand over control majority share to the dubious businessman. He went to an extent of imposing some taxes at the wellhead to generate enough revenue for Balochistan. Earlier, the Government had arbitrarily fixed the wellhead price at the lowest so that minimum revenue should be transferred to the Balochistan Government. It was the hectic efforts of Shaheed Akbar Bugti who launched a big campaign forcing the Government to concede the Development Surcharge on natural gas ensuring greater revenue to Balochistan Government. Later on the outgoing PPP Government, in NFC Award, conceded that the Gas Development Surcharge for the past 50 years and agreed to pay Rs 10 billion a year against the outstanding dues of Rs 120 billions. There was no role of PPL as an institution to mitigate human suffering in Balochistan and took away billion of profit everywhere denying the revenue to the people of Balochistan who are the real owners of the natural wealth. Thus it is legitimate to demand hundred percent control of Balochistan Government on the PPL and SSGC and its entire revenue, along with Federal Taxes, should go to Balochistan. The demand is being made because the PPL was unjust to the people of Balochistan and denied senior positions to the Baloch people in the PPL. The Chief Minister, Dr Malik, while addressing a gathering at Sui advised the PPL and SSGC to give all jobs to Bugtis only as the wealth belonged to the Baloch people. The Government will have to end control of Mohajirs and Punjabis over the PPL, SSGC and other gas companies operating in Balochistan by shifting the head offices to Dera Bugti or Sui. There is no justification for keeping the Head offices of PPL and SSGC in Karachi while whole of Balochistan is being control by the SSGC office in Sukkur. The major political parties and Baloch representatives in the Parliament and also in the Balochistan Assembly should take up the matter and expose the discriminatory attitude of the gas companies against the Baloch people, the real master of the natural wealth.
Posted on: Sun, 29 Sep 2013 19:34:57 +0000
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