The boards of directors at Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Limited (SNGPL) and Sui Southern Gas Company Limited (SSGCL) have been dissolved on Prime Minister Imran Khan's orders owing to the prevailing gas shortfall in the country, sources said on Thursday.
Sources familiar with the matter said Prime Minister Imran Khan gave directions for stricter action against the gas suppliers, as the CNG crisis entered its fifth-day today disrupting public transport and leaving commuters in limbo.
Disrupted gas supply was also reported in several residential and industrial areas across Karachi, making cooking a challenge for domestic consumers and halting production in factories.
A day after ordering a fact-finding committee to launch an inquiry against the managing directors of both SNGPL and SSGCL, the federal government decided to reshuffle the companies’ boards of directors over purported poor performance. On the prime minister's instructions, the boards of directors of both the companies were dissolved earlier today, the sources said.
The four-member committee investigating the managing directors has been tasked to present a report on the matter, along with its recommendations, within 72 hours. The committee is headed by Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority chairperson Uzma Adil Khan, and comprises Qazi Saleem Siddiqui, Shahid Yousaf and Imran Ahmed.
A notification issued by the Ministry of Energy's Petroleum Division on Wednesday said the two top bosses of the gas supply companies were accused of demonstrating "negligence in reporting of facts to the ministry or incompetence to deal with operational issues, withholding of information from the government and overall systematic governance failure SNGPL and SSGCL."
SSGCL announced late Tuesday it was discontinuing gas supply to CNG stations and captive power plants of all general industries for an “indefinite period of time.”
The company said it was facing acute shortage of gas and low pressure in the system.
