KARACHI: The Sui Southern Gas Company (SSGC) has announced to stop gas supply to Karachi’s biggest seven government hospitals over failing to clear their dues.
According to the SSGC spokesperson, arrangements have been finalised to disconnect gas connections of defaulting hospitals in the metropolis.
The spokesperson said that National Institute of Child Health (NICH), Lyari General Hospital, Trauma Centre Civil Hospital, Sindh Government Hospital, Civil Services Hospital and ICU Trauma Centre and Cardiac Centre Korangi had failed to clear their dues.
The aforesaid hospitals had been given a deadline of September 15 to clear SSGC dues, the spokesperson added.
Earlier in June, Prime Minister Imran Khan had directed to devise a comprehensive strategy to meet gas requirements of both domestic and industrial sectors.
Presiding over a high-level meeting in Islamabad, PM Imran had said that gas requirements of industrial and domestic consumers were increasing day by day.
On Thursday, Patron in Chief North Karachi Association of Trade & Industry (NKATI) A Moiz Khan and President Nasim Akhtar had expressed deep concern over the three-day gas shutdown by Sui Southern Gas Company (SSGC).
According to a press release, NKATI leaders asserted that the government should realize that due to the power load shedding in the industries the production activities are already hampered.
“In such cases, shutting down the gas supply will completely stop the production process, which will have a negative impact on the country’s exports,” they added.
NKATI leaders asked the government whether they shut down the industries as there were repeated attempts to shut down the industries under various pretexts.
They said, “SSGC has announced to cut off the gas supply to industries three days a week. If the supply of electricity and gas to industries is continuously cut off, it will become impossible for industries to function.”