Ijaz Kakakhel Islamabad
A legislative body of upper house of parliament on Monday directed the ministry of Petroleum to make appropriate measures to recover Rs419 billions of Gas Infrastructure Development Cess (GIDC) against various sectors.
The instruction was given during a meeting of Senate Standing Committee on Petroleum, which was held on Monday at Parliament House, while Senator Mohammad Abdul Qadir was on chair. Engr. Rukhsana Zuberi, Senator Saadia Abbasi, Senator Mohsin Aziz, Senator Fida Muhammad, Senator Shamim Afridi, Senator Saifullah Abro and senior officers from Ministry of Energy (Petroleum Division), OGDCL and OGRA along with all concerned attended the meeting.
Matters that were discussed included GIDC amount outstanding against various sectors; progress on Jandran, Saruna and Jhal Magsi gas fields; Issue of oil theft from main pipeline of the country with special reference to Sindh and gas load shedding in Sindh.
Deliberating over outstanding Gas Infrastructure Development Cess (GIDC) Chairman Committee, Senator Mohammad Abdul Qadir was of the view that amount Rs.419 billion recoverable against various sectors to be paid to the government and are stalked at various stages such as Stay orders of the various High Courts despite the clear-cut ruling of the Supreme Court of Pakistan, the Ministry must take the lead to diversify its approach and even engage renown private profession counselors in order to vacate Stay Orders.
