The National Committee to Protect Oil, Gas, Mineral Resources, Power and Port on Tuesday demanded that the government provide an immediate solution to the country's nagging power crisis instead of indulging in propaganda for multinational corporations.
Speaking at a press conference at Mukti Bhaban in Paltan, the committee's leaders claimed that subsequent governments had only been complicating the country's energy sector through deals and contracts with foreign companies which were against the national interest.
The committee's member-secretary, Professor Anu Muhammad, detailed the committee's proposals to resolve the power crisis and asked the government to avail itself of the opportunities for the mining of gas and coal under national ownership.
Anu Muhammad criticised the recent initiatives of the government to facilitate the installation of rental and peaking power plants that will generate at best 700 megawatts in nine months, but at the very high price of Tk 8-14 per unit.
The government will have to give subsidy of almost Tk 10,000 crore a year because of these projects, whereas the national committee has been proposing renovation of national power plants, installation of capacitors, use of energy saving bulbs and intelligent motor controllers that will produce at least 1,500MW in three-nine months, and the electricity will cost only Tk 1.6 per unit, he added.
Anu Muhammad also pointed out that the government has been buying gas from foreign companies at the rate of Tk 250-300 per unit, thus being forced to pay a subsidy of Tk 2,000 crore a year, whereas the cost could be reduced to Tk 25-30 per unit of gas if the extraction was done by governmental organisations.
He demanded that the government should revoke the contracts with foreign companies and force the companies which are functioning to extract gas from the gas-blocks in the quickest possible time. 'The nation will only continue to count losses if the remaining gas-blocks are awarded to foreign companies under the current Production Sharing Contract.'
Speakers also expressed deep concern over the recent machinations of the government to allow Asia Energy to go for the environmentally disastrous open-pit mining method in Phulbari coalfield.
Claiming that Asia Energy had been accused of irregularities in the global share market, the committee's convenor, Engineer Sheikh Muhammad Shahidullah, said that the company's primary goal to use the open-pit mining method to manipulate the Dhaka share market.
Sharing the experience of his recent visit to India, Shahidullah said that only 17 per cent of the neighbouring country's total mining is done according to the open-pit system but with certain limits, and provided that the regional geological structure is rocky.
'But environmental and geological conditions in Bangladesh, which is also densely populated, can never justify open cast mining,' pointed out Shahidullah.
Speakers also criticised some fabricated and manipulated propaganda in both the print and electronic media for open-pit mining, which is against the people's interest.
Anu Muhammad told New Age that some pockets had been created in the national media to serve the interest of multinational companies.
Citing a report published on May 7 this year in Bangla daily Prothom Alo, he said that the story on the country's two ministers' visit to a Hamburg coalmine in Germany had tried to establish groundless comparisons between Hamburg and Phulbari. 'The report did not mention that the visit was funded by GCM, the owner of Asia Energy.'
Hamburg, where 5,200 locals were displaced, cannot be compared to Phulbari where 1,29,417 people will lose their lands and livelihood and about five lakh people surrounding the area will be severely affected by open-pit mining, according to a report submitted by the expert team formed by the government,' he added.
Anu Muhammad also claimed that the cover story of the Daily Star's weekly, The Star, on April 30 this year had tried to establish the 'inevitability' of open-pit mining with references to some biased comments by several persons who had served as local agents of Asia Energy before the Phulbari uprising in 2006.
'It will be a betrayal of the nation if the government pursues open-pit mining after signing a social contract forbidding it in 2006,' said Anu Muhammad.
The conference was attended by BD Rahmatullah, Mujahidul Islam Selim, MM Akash and Mosharefa Mishu, along with others.
Speaking at a press conference at Mukti Bhaban in Paltan, the committee's leaders claimed that subsequent governments had only been complicating the country's energy sector through deals and contracts with foreign companies which were against the national interest.
The committee's member-secretary, Professor Anu Muhammad, detailed the committee's proposals to resolve the power crisis and asked the government to avail itself of the opportunities for the mining of gas and coal under national ownership.
Anu Muhammad criticised the recent initiatives of the government to facilitate the installation of rental and peaking power plants that will generate at best 700 megawatts in nine months, but at the very high price of Tk 8-14 per unit.
The government will have to give subsidy of almost Tk 10,000 crore a year because of these projects, whereas the national committee has been proposing renovation of national power plants, installation of capacitors, use of energy saving bulbs and intelligent motor controllers that will produce at least 1,500MW in three-nine months, and the electricity will cost only Tk 1.6 per unit, he added.
Anu Muhammad also pointed out that the government has been buying gas from foreign companies at the rate of Tk 250-300 per unit, thus being forced to pay a subsidy of Tk 2,000 crore a year, whereas the cost could be reduced to Tk 25-30 per unit of gas if the extraction was done by governmental organisations.
He demanded that the government should revoke the contracts with foreign companies and force the companies which are functioning to extract gas from the gas-blocks in the quickest possible time. 'The nation will only continue to count losses if the remaining gas-blocks are awarded to foreign companies under the current Production Sharing Contract.'
Speakers also expressed deep concern over the recent machinations of the government to allow Asia Energy to go for the environmentally disastrous open-pit mining method in Phulbari coalfield.
Claiming that Asia Energy had been accused of irregularities in the global share market, the committee's convenor, Engineer Sheikh Muhammad Shahidullah, said that the company's primary goal to use the open-pit mining method to manipulate the Dhaka share market.
Sharing the experience of his recent visit to India, Shahidullah said that only 17 per cent of the neighbouring country's total mining is done according to the open-pit system but with certain limits, and provided that the regional geological structure is rocky.
'But environmental and geological conditions in Bangladesh, which is also densely populated, can never justify open cast mining,' pointed out Shahidullah.
Speakers also criticised some fabricated and manipulated propaganda in both the print and electronic media for open-pit mining, which is against the people's interest.
Anu Muhammad told New Age that some pockets had been created in the national media to serve the interest of multinational companies.
Citing a report published on May 7 this year in Bangla daily Prothom Alo, he said that the story on the country's two ministers' visit to a Hamburg coalmine in Germany had tried to establish groundless comparisons between Hamburg and Phulbari. 'The report did not mention that the visit was funded by GCM, the owner of Asia Energy.'
Hamburg, where 5,200 locals were displaced, cannot be compared to Phulbari where 1,29,417 people will lose their lands and livelihood and about five lakh people surrounding the area will be severely affected by open-pit mining, according to a report submitted by the expert team formed by the government,' he added.
Anu Muhammad also claimed that the cover story of the Daily Star's weekly, The Star, on April 30 this year had tried to establish the 'inevitability' of open-pit mining with references to some biased comments by several persons who had served as local agents of Asia Energy before the Phulbari uprising in 2006.
'It will be a betrayal of the nation if the government pursues open-pit mining after signing a social contract forbidding it in 2006,' said Anu Muhammad.
The conference was attended by BD Rahmatullah, Mujahidul Islam Selim, MM Akash and Mosharefa Mishu, along with others.
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