THE Federal Cabinet, which met in Islamabad on Wednesday with Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif in the chair, took important decisions of far reaching significance for the country and the common man.
It approved a climate and agriculture emergency in the backdrop of catastrophic floods and rains that caused huge losses to the standing crops besides creating odds for new crops. The meeting also approved resumption of new gas connections across the country, ending the ban imposed in 2021, in response to the longstanding demand of the people.
Declaration of the climate and agriculture emergency is a timely measure but it has to be seen what the authorities propose to mitigate the impact of the calamity on people and their means of livelihood. Agriculture and livestock were the mainstay of the rural economy and these sectors have widely been affected depriving people of their sources of income. Farmers surely need compensation for the loss of livelihood as well as exemption from taxes for a limited period. At the same time, the Government will have to come out with an urgent but carefully carried out damage assessment as loss of crops means timely import of relevant commodities to guard against shortages and price-hike as flood affected under-privileged segments of the society cannot afford another sharp hike in prices of essential items. More important is the roadmap to address the challenge of climate change on a sustainable basis as the country cannot afford recurring huge loss of life and properties. Minister for Parliamentary Affairs Dr. Tariq Fazal Chaudhry has rightly pointed out that in past decades, we failed to protect our forests and trees, while encroachments narrowed natural waterways — rivers, streams and channels that once allowed easy passage of rainwater. The Climate Minister has been tasked to submit a comprehensive report to the Prime Minister within a fortnight and the PM himself plans to convene a meeting of the provincial stakeholders to discuss different aspects of the challenge and how to prevent it in future. This is important as provinces must be on board to ensure success of any strategy and implementation of all the relevant projects in a time-bound manner, avoiding political controversies, as has been the practice in the country. The decision to restore gas connections for domestic consumers will surely be appreciated by citizens, especially those who have been waiting for long for such connections. Hundreds of thousands of applications are pending with the two gas companies but under a policy change they will be charged RLNG rates and not those of the natural gas. According to the Minister, both Sui companies had already completed procurement processes for meters and pipelines and would immediately begin processing pending applications once the official notification is issued. Existing applicants would also be given the option to convert their requests to RLNG-based connections by paying the enhanced prescribed security fee (starting from Rs. 21,000) to the Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority. He stated that although RLNG would remain costlier than domestic natural gas, it would be around 30–35 per cent cheaper than LPG, thereby easing household fuel costs. However, there can be no two opinions that this discrimination with the new consumers will create heart burning and the government will have to concentrate on domestic exploration activity, both onshore and offshore. There was a recent report that a joint survey by the Pakistan Navy and China has confirmed large reserves of gas lying deep beneath the sea. Similar reports appeared, off and on, in the past but there was no progress towards exploitation of these reserves including those of shale gas despite estimates suggesting 105 trillion feet of recoverable shale gas, primarily in the lower and middle Indus basin. In an appreciable move, Petroleum Minister Ali Pervaiz Malik has stated that the government was attracting international companies, including those from Turkiye, China and the United States, for both onshore and offshore exploration but the process needs to be expedited.
