The country has been witnessing a severe shortage in gas and power for months. The ministers and advisors of the government had said that the crisis would be solved by September-October. However, by the end October, the crisis intensified further instead.
The remarks of prime minister's energy advisor Tawfik-e-Elahi Chowdhury during the view-exchange meeting with the business persons are even more concerning. There is uncertainty over the availability foreign reserves required for importing LNG (liquefied natural gas) from abroad.
There has always been an imbalance of export and import of the country. It has increased further in recent times. On the other, remittance from expatriates, one of the driving forces of Bangladesh’s economy, is declining. In this context, the government must think about the foreign reserve.
Business persons held a meeting with prime minister Sheikh Hasina on Wednesday and demanded uninterrupted power and gas supply to industries. There were reports of 12 hours of gas and power outage in industries and factories in several areas, including Gazipur, on that very same day.
The businessmen said they were ready to purchase gas and electricity even at a high price. People are ready to follow austerity and they are already doing so due to existing power-shortage. However, if the production in the industries stops, there will be less production. The export oriented products will lose foreign market if the production declines. As a result, the prices of products in the domestic market will increase. The decline in production may also create a negative impact on the workers as well. We don't want workers to lose their jobs or their wages and allowances to stop.
The policymakers of the government are saying that the situation has become vulnerable due to the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war. However, that is not the sole reason. The government’s dependency on other countries regarding power and gas has pushed us to a more vulnerable situation.
The government has not attempted to explore gas resources in the country or to extract gas from them. Even after finding gas resources in Bhola, we are not being able to fully utilise it due to the lack in the supply system.
The prime minister has assured the businessmen that none of the factories in the country would be closed due to the lack of power and gas. However, it will not be easy to cope with the loss caused by six to seven hours of power outage daily in factories either. The prime minister has urged the business persons to think about the people in stress. The question that arises subsequently is how much the leaders and activists of the ruling party think about the common people?
The prime minister has said that there is no "Hawa Bhaban" anymore. However, the businessmen still have to pay extortion to do business or they still have to pay bribes in government offices. Denying this reality will not solve the problem. In addition to these problems, there is bureaucratic complication.
Agriculture and remittance kept our economy buoyant during the coronavirus pandemic. When the remittance and export are on decline, agriculture is our only hope. In this context, there is no alternative to uninterrupted government assistance in importing agricultural equipment and in supplying fertilisers and seeds as well as irrigation. We hope that the directives from the prime minister in this regard will be implemented soon.
We must say in the end that there is vagueness regarding energy. The people of the country need to know when the crisis will be over and the government’s plan in tackling the crisis. It should be kept in mind that the problem is so serious that a sustainable and long term initiative is needed to overcome it. Sporadic and isolated initiatives will not be helpful in solving the crisis.