ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court ordered the Ministry of Petroleum on Friday to ensure supply of gas on priority to localities and villages situated within 5km around gas fields in accordance with a directive issued in 2003 by the then prime minister.
A verdict on environmental pollution and degradation, authored by Justice Jawwad S. Khawaja, instructed the director general of petroleum concessions to prepare a comprehensive account of the social welfare obligations, production bonuses and marine research fees due to each district where oil and gas exploration and production companies were operating.
The court issued the verdict on a suo motu case taken up by former chief justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry about pollution, dilapidation of roads because of movement of heavy machinery and lack of corporate social responsibility in the exploration areas, especially Sanghar.
The Sanghar Taluka Bar Association’s chief Abdul Hakeem Khoso and Advocate Anwar Nizamani had raised the issue before the former chief justice in April when he visited the area to attend the association’s oath-taking ceremony.
The DG will also have to submit within 45 days a comprehensive report about the royalties due to each district.
“The rights of the people in the funds generated on account of social welfare obligations have a direct nexus with the fundamental rights,” Justice Khawaja said. He regretted that the funds remained unutilised or under-utilised or their use had not been adequately monitored.
The court ordered the petroleum ministry’s DG, the provincial governments as well as the local governments concerned to ensure diligent collection and monitoring of social welfare obligations and optimum utilisation of the funds, production bonuses and marine research fees generated on account of the contractual obligations of the exploration companies.
It said information relating to the funds should be available to the local population in accordance with Article 19A of the Constitution (right to information).
The court suggested that the provincial and local governments should review policy guidelines and make suitable amendments to set up committees for each district, tehsil or taluka for coordinated and effective use of these funds.
The tehsil/taluka local governments should be given representation in the committees, it said.The court said guidelines should also be framed by the federal and provincial governments in reasonable detail so that the social welfare obligations could be monitored and the expenditure of funds examined in a transparent manner.
Once every sixth months, the district coordination officers will publish a notice online and in the most widely-read newspaper in the district, announcing a public hearing to solicit inhabitants’ comments and reservations with regard to schemes completed, initiated or under way during the period.
The DG will solicit half-yearly reports from all licence/lease holders about their social welfare obligations towards the local communities, including locations, budgets and status of schemes.