Fuelling inflation

IT would be unrealistic to assume that the people would take another price jump by the two state-owned gas utilities lying down. Protests at power billing at higher rates and shutdowns have begun to occur almost daily in different parts of the country because the man in the street could carry a limited amount of burden. Forced to lift excess weight, he would either rebel and resort to violent protests or crumble down, going hungry, committing suicide, selling his children for a day's meal. According to a report published in this paper yesterday, both the Sui Northern Gas Pipeline Limited and the Sui Southern Gas Company have approached the Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority to accede to their demand of raising the tariff by 30 percent for the first six months of 2009. No doubt, the cost of goods and services of every shade and hue is inexorably going up and, on that score, it would be churlish to grudge the gas companies' proposal for bigger return, if they were to meet the increased cost of operations.