QUETTA: The Pashtunkhwa Milli Awami Party (PkMAP) has launched a severe critique against the Sui Southern Gas Company (SSGC), labeling it a “mafia” that is snatching the “right to live” from the poor people of Balochistan instead of providing them with essential gas services. In a press release issued from its provincial secretariat, the party detailed a series of alleged failures and exploitative practices by the state-owned utility provider.
The PkMAP statement accuses the SSGC of burdening households with excessively heavy bills and imposing fines under various pretexts, rather than ensuring a consistent gas supply. The party claims that the company is not only creating an artificial shortage and reducing gas pressure but also engaging in nightly gas load-shedding under the guise of combating gas theft, which severely impacts small industries .
The party revealed that it has repeatedly raised these issues with the top management of SSGC in meetings at the National and Provincial Assemblies and the Senate. Following these discussions, the company’s officials had given assurances that gas supply would not be shut down during the winter season. However, the PkMAP states that for several years, these promises have been broken, and the people of Quetta and other districts like Pishin, Ziarat, and Mastung continue to be illegally deprived of gas facilities .
A grave environmental consequence highlighted in the statement is the rampant deforestation in areas like Ziarat. The party asserts that the lack of gas is forcing residents to cut down precious, internationally protected pine forests for firewood, making the SSGC and the provincial government responsible for this ecological damage .
The PkMAP has demanded an immediate end to the artificial gas crisis and load-shedding in Quetta, Pishin, and Ziarat. It has also called for an investigation and action against what it describes as mafias within the SSGC who are allegedly obstructing gas supply to the general population for the benefit of specific areas
