Daily Times

The boards of directors at the 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, a private TV channel reported on Thursday.

The prime minister reportedly issued directions for stern action against the gas suppliers, as the CNG crisis entered its fifth day on Thursday, disrupting public transport and leaving commuters in limbo. 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 their boards of directors over purported poor performance. On the prime minister’s instructions, the boards of directors of both the companies were dissolved, the report said.

The four-member committee investigating the gas crisis has been tasked to present a report on the matter, along with its recommendations, within 72 hours. A notification issued by the Ministry of Energy’s Petroleum Division on Wednesday had said the top bosses of the two 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’.

Published in Daily Times, December 14^th 2018.