# Stakeholders who attended the public hearings in Peddie in the Eastern Cape on the Gas Amendment Bill said the amendments can be revolutionary for rural areas and is desirable if it puts an end to load-shedding by providing gas to communities. Community representatives said that marginalised rural areas should benefit economically from any such developments. The chairperson of the portfolio committee on Mineral Resources and Energy, Sahlulele Luzipo, explained the amendments were designed to protect the environment, communities in surrounding areas as well as workers in the industry.