Indemnity is a barbaric law; there can be no indemnity in the power-fuel sector. Crime cannot be prosecuted; it cannot go on in any civilized society.
On Saturday (April 29) at the CIRDAP Auditorium, the Consumers Association of Bangladesh (CAB) organized a citizen's meeting on the energy crisis and renewable energy development. In this, 13 points of reform proposals were presented by CAB.
Rashed Khan Menon, president of the Workers' Party, said that now electricity is being produced but we cannot use it. Even if you are sitting, you will have to pay the capacity charge. Indemnity is a hated word in our politics. But in 2022, it will be revised and renewed. As LNG is being imported, the LNG lobby is playing a major role in many cases. Looting continues like previous governments. The role that our parliament is supposed to play, unfortunately, the true parliament is not playing its role properly.
Cab energy advisor and senior vice-president Shamsul Alam said, according to wind mapping, Bangladesh has 30,000 megawatts of wind power generation capacity. Wind and solar power in India now cost around Rs.3. India in its plan, that by 2030 the cost of solar power will come down to Rs 1.9 to Rs 2.6. And wind power will be available for 2.3 to 2.6 rupees. There, the Bangladesh Power Development Board has contracted solar power at Tk. 9.99 and wind power at Tk. 1320 in the fiscal year 2022-23. Renewable energy prices would have been similar to those in India if the technical capacity development and investment costs were justified.
He said that although the supply of electricity has increased at the rate of 7 percent, the production capacity has been increased by 12 percent. Electricity production is decreasing due to lack of fuel. As a result, consumers are subjected to unbearable price hikes. The public sector is a victim of discrimination in gas distribution. Gas is being purchased from domestic companies at Tk. 1.03 per cubic meter, while the same amount of LNG is being imported at Tk. 83. There is no growth in gas reserves and production from the Gas Development Fund. But 65 percent of the fund remains unutilized.
Energy expert Dr. Badrul Imam said that all the gas fields that were recently discovered were done by the state company Bapex. The capacity of that organization is questionable. Another 32 TCF of gas remains undiscovered in Bangladesh, USGS said in a survey report. At present 1 TCF of gas is being used per annum thus there are another 32 years of reserves. Today's crisis is due to the fact that domestic gas exploration activities are not at the right pace. Because of the impasse today, LNG has to be imported at a high price.
He said, the profit of not raising the domestic gas is more than that of raising it. Import may be subject to commission. It's not just from today, but historically there has been stagnation in research. A change of government is expected, but it did not change like that. Rather, the import of the new section has been added to the previous section. If this situation prevails, the gas sector will become completely import dependent in 30 years.
Government has taken initiative to drill 46 wells in 2 years, a good initiative hopefully not lost like the previous 105 well drilling project. Myanmar is extracting a lot of gas across our border in the Bay of Bengal. But we have not been able to do anything in the last 10 years. Now preparations are underway to go to the bidding round at sea, work has also started on land. But it is too late. Had this been done 10 years ago, today's crisis would not have arisen.
Professor MM Akash said that energy is a natural resource and as per the constitution the people are the owners of natural resources. The constitution states that three types of ownership are permissible. In terms of investment, domestic enterprises should be the main ones, foreign ones can be complementary. There should be an agreement in the extraction of mineral resources in the sea keeping the national interest intact.
He said that the government is saying that electricity consumption has increased at the rate of 7 percent every year, and production has increased at the rate of 12 percent. This leaves a lot of electricity unused. As a result of which the price of electricity is increasing gradually. The government has recently curtailed the powers of BERC. There is some degree of transparency, accountability when BERC sets prices. So they have undermined the powers of BERC.
He said, indemnity is a barbaric law, there cannot be indemnity here. Crime cannot be prosecuted- it cannot go on in any civilized society. We are against coal in the long term, but we are for coal in the short term.
Architect Iqbal Habib said, state law says nothing can be done without EIA. But it is being done constantly. And we will only move! You cannot survive on money in the future by destroying the environment.
Communist Party general secretary and former minister Dilip Barua said KAFCO had to supply gas at domestic prices, and fertilizer had to be bought from them at Singapore rates. The government talks about the principles of Bangabandhu, but is acting outside of his principles because they want to get rich overnight. We have expanded the loot further. The state system is corrupt. It is against the spirit of liberation war. There is no way to get rid of this without struggle.
Jatiya Party presidium member Barrister Shamim Haider Patwari said, "I don't understand much about energy, but there is no need to be enlightened to understand the corruption going on here." Many bureaucrats are working in the respective ministries with their relatives. It is very sad.
Ministries are using commissions. Commissions should be allowed to function properly. Electricity Indemnity needs anything, the government can do whatever it wants. Even if the capacity charge increases several times, no one will do anything. Energy sector should be transparent, this sector affects 16 crore people. Half of the fortnight in COP is empty, there are no events. But the pavilion is taken by spending a lot of money.
Barrister Jortimoy Barua said, JICA has been given the responsibility to make the energy policy. There is no other country in the world that has given responsibility to foreigners in such a sensitive matter. What is the guarantee that this information will not be disclosed?
He said there is a conspiracy to abolish BERC. There was a strong objection from Cab. If BERC has any restrictions, they should be removed. We want BERC to speak for the people. A fund has been created with people's money, and the interest is collected by lending from that fund. That interest is also falling on the shoulders of the people. There are many such inconsistencies.
Rajekuzzaman Ratan, joint general secretary of BSD, said, "We are stuck in a vicious circle. One will corrupt and the price will go up, we are stuck in such a process. Why so much more than India in electricity production! We want to produce at a higher price. But the people are now torn and flattened by the weight of that feeling. Electricity sector is a vivid example of how people's pockets are being cut by imposing petty liabilities.
CPB General Secretary Ruhin Hossain Prince said, "We have built the Padma Bridge, we have done many things." Why can't we produce gas by bringing an expert? The Ministry of Energy acts as PRO of multinational companies. They do not have any other role in sight. Admitting this, our voice as politicians could not be amplified in that way.
CAB president Gholam Rahman presided. General Secretary Advocate Humayun Kabir Bhuiyan delivered the concluding speech moderated by CAB Organizing Secretary Professor Mizanur Rahman Raju.