Gas connections uncertain again

The gas sector is in a state of disorder again. For the past six years there have been no regular gas connections to the industrial and commercial sector. Now the government is planning to stop new connections to the residential sector as well. Yet there is no initiative to sever the illegal gas connections.

Sources in the energy ministry and the distribution companies said the demand for gas will increase during the month of Ramadan. People will be seeking for new connections by legal or illegal means. The disorder in the sector will worsen. The government has decided to increase gas supply to the power sector to ensure electricity during Ramadan.

Industrial and commercial sectors: There has been confusion and lack of clarity about stopping gas connections to these sectors.The government stopped giving gas connections to this sector from 31 July 2009. Sylhet region, though, is out of this prohibition. The energy ministry explained that all the gas extracted from Sylhet cannot be provided to the rest of the country due to lack of adequate infrastructure. That is why new connections haven't been prohibited in Sylhet. Six years on, the infrastructure remains inadequate.

New connections were also allowed in Rajshahi, in order to uphold the prime minister's political pledge. Recently that too has halted. So those who were waiting for their gas connections but have failed to get it are now trying to get the connections by various means.

After the government stopped new connections to the industrial and commercial sectors, a high-level committee was formed to settle urgent appeals from various quarters. The committee has approved of around 200 appeals from the industrial and commercial sectors and over 900 applications lie pending. Several members of the committee have told Prothom Alo that the clients will gradually get their connections according to the process.

On the other hand, from April the energy ministry has been stating that no industrial gas connections will be given other than in specific industrial zones. Then again, finance minister Abul Mal Abdul Muhit, in a pre-budget discussion, told economists and industrialists that a provision will be kept in the 2015-16 budget for 2% gas to be reserved for new industrial units.  The industries will get this gas through the investment board. No mention was made of this in the budget, however.

Residential sector: From 13 July 2010 new connections were stopped in this sector. It was resumed on 7 May 2013. In the interim period, about 100 thousand new connections were given by corruption means. Now if residential gas connections are prohibition again, there is all likelihood of corruption rearing its head again too.

On 9 April prime minister Sheikh Hasina went to the power, energy and mineral resources ministry and ordered that the new residential gas connections be stopped again. State minister Nasrul Hamid also told reporters at various programmes that residential connections would no longer be provided. Instead, LP gas would be made easily available.

In the meantime, the distribution companies are going ahead and providing gas connections to the residential sector.  Titas Gas Transmission and Distribution Company's managing director Naushad Islam said they hadn't received any government order as yet to stop giving the gas connections.

There are reportedly differences within the government in this regard. The experience hasn't been a good one. As long as the connections are officially stopped, these are given by "unofficial" means.

The reasons the government offers for stopping new residential connections is that there is a significant wastage of gas in this sector. But Titas' survey report indicates that the amount of gas wasted in the industrial sector every day is equal to the amount of gas provided to the residential sector in he entre country.

The government speaks of making LP gas easily available for use in the residential sector and to keep its price in control. But it has failed to do anything effective about this in the past five years. The gas subscribers are now suffering from uncertainty.