Fascist govt neglected domestic resources, built import-dependent system: Energy Minister

Minister for Power, Energy and Mineral Resources Iqbal Hasan Mahmud (Tuku) commented that the fascist government neglected domestic resources and built an import-dependent system.

He made the remarks replying to queries from journalists after exchanging views with the officials at the auditorium of the Barapukuria Coal Mining Company in Dinajpur on Tuesday.

Minister Iqbal Hasan Mahmud exchanged views with local members of parliament and officials of Barapukuria Coal Mining Company, Barapukuria Coal Based Thermal Power Plant and Maddhapara Granite Mining Company.

Later, he said, “The fascist government ruled the country for 17 years. They neglected domestic resources and created a system dependent on imports. We were elected in the last election. Our Prime Minister believes that we are the government of the people. We want to extract the resources that belong to the people.”

“The first thing needed for the country’s development is energy. When we have our own energy resources, why should we import from abroad? We sat down to discuss how we can satisfy everyone, bring everyone together, extract our own country’s energy resources and use them for the country’s development,” he added.

Replying to a query on why the Barapukuria power plant is unable to go fully into production, the minister said, “This happened during the 17 years of the fascist government. Under our government, we are trying to run all three units together.”

At the time, Minister for Social Welfare and Women and Children Affairs AZM Zahid Hossain and State Minister for Power and Energy Anindya Islam Amit were present.

Later, the energy minister visited the Maddhapara Granite Mining Company and the Barapukuria thermal power plant and discussed existing problems with the concerned persons.