KARACHI - CNG Station Owners Association (CSOAP) and CNG Dealers Association (CDA) have announced disassociation from the strike call given by a CNG association for Dec 20. Chairman CSOAP Malik Khuda Bakhsh and President CDA Abdus Sami Khan said that this strike call was not in the interest of CNG station owners and dealers and it will serve the govts interest of resorting to loadshedding. They said that both the associations are opposing gas loadshedding for CNG stations and also increase in the price of natural gas. Due to our efforts, CNG stations of Sindh and Balochistan were exempted from gas loadshedding and the government was convinced to extend gas loadshedding period from November 15 to December 12, they added. Malik Khuda Bakhsh and Sami Khan clarified that CDA and CSOAP were registered in 1992 and 2001 respectively and they have been invited and consulted by the Ministry of Petroleum and HDIP for every meeting. They urged the government not to raise gas prices because CNG Policy 1992 envisages a price difference of 50 percent to ensure the consumers should get a cheaper fuel. This policy has attracted an investment of Rs 160b in CNG sector, they noted. They pointed out that in Feb 2007, the govt had changed the CNG tariff from industrial category to above commercial category which is exorbitant and against the policy. They rejected the statement of Finance Minister in which he supported the idea to take CNG rates closer to petrol and promote the use of petrol among motorists. They were of the view that some elements in the government were bent upon destroying CNG industry which will not only hurt 3 million users but affect environment.