Gas pipeline attack a protest - activists

An attack on a state-run gas plant in the southern province of Balochistan last week was a wake-up call from a forgotten sector of Pakistani society, observers told IRIN on Tuesday. "There is a direct correlation between the economic and social deprivation in the province with recent violence. It's the ultimate culmination of years of neglect," Ghulam Mustafa Talpur, a developmental economist working at Actionaid Pakistan, told IRIN in the Pakistani capital, Islamabad. Natural gas supplies to industry, transport, power plants and for domestic use have been badly disrupted across the country, following the closure of processing facilities at Sui, some 350 km southeast of the Balochistan provincial capital, Quetta. The state-run gas plant was severely damaged when it came under attack from armed tribesmen last Tuesday. Sui is the biggest of 24 gas fields in the country, producing one billion cubic feet of gas per day - about 45 per cent of Pakistan's total production. Local media said the tribesmen were protesting against the alleged rape of a female doctor working at a hospital owned by the gas plant in Sui town. They asked the government to arrest the culprits and subsequently attacked the gas plants, which belong to Pakistan Petroleum Limited (PPL), using rockets and mortars, according to reports. "The provincial government of Balochistan has been investigating the matter and collecting evidence and material, so that the culprits can be brought to justice. But exploiting the situation for political gains and creating a law and order situation shows extremism," said the provincial home minister, Shoaib Nausherwani. As many as 18 people have been reported killed in week-long clashes between the security forces and tribesmen, including civilians and soldiers, while 35 others have been injured. Sui gas pipelines also came under attacks two years ago, which disrupted gas supplies for about a week, causing difficulties for millions of household consumers across the country. Balochistan is the largest of Pakistan's four provinces, covering about 44 percent of the total area. However, the region is the least developed. Tribesmen have been targeting government installations and officials across the province to step up pressure for more control over natural resources, along with greater economic and political rights, observers told IRIN. "We didn't put much efforts into developing Balochistan over the years, in terms of social development, nor have we ever tried to bring the tribesmen into the national stream politically. This crisis is just an outcome of all this neglect," Zia-ud-Din, a political commentator and editor of the prominent English daily, the Dawn, told IRIN in the capital, Islamabad. The authorities have maintained that the repair work could take several days. "We need to replace some critical instruments of the plant, that are being sourced as a top priority, and PPL is making utmost efforts to complete the repair work and restore normal supply at the earliest," Tariq Zuberi, a PPL spokesman, told IRIN from the southern port city of Karachi on Monday. The country's two gas distribution networks, Sui Southern Gas Company (SSGC) and Sui Northern Gas Company (SNGC), serve around four million domestic, about 45,000 commercial and some 4,000 industrial consumers, according to officials. Some 20 percent of household consumers have been reported without gas during peak hours as a result of the closure. The gas supply to over 500 natural gas vehicle filling stations has also been badly affected. For environmental reasons, Pakistan is trying to convert as many polluting cars and taxis as possible to run on natural gas. Supplies to fertiliser and electricity generating plants have been curtailed by the two companies while some other allied industries are not able to operate due to low gas pressure, officials of the gas companies explained. "The biggest user of gas is the industrial and power sector, which consumes almost 80 percent of the total. We've asked them to minimise their use voluntarily, and those having alternate liquid fuel arrangements to make a shift [away from gas use]," Hassan Nawab, an SSGC spokesman told IRIN from Karachi.