Awami League’s plundering is being buried due to political debates: Fakhrul
BNP secretary general Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir has said the plundering during the Awami League regime is being buried due to political debate.
The BNP secretary general made the remark while speaking at a press conference at the chairperson's office in city’s Gulshan today, Thursday following the unveiling of a report on corruption in the power sector during the reign of Awami League.
Mirza Fakhrul requested the journalists to publish detailed reports of corruption done by the Awami League government in the power and energy sectors.
“We believe the power sector saw the most corruption during the Awami League regime,” Mirza Fakhrul said.
He lamented that political debate after the changeover is benefitting Awami League as people are forgetting that it plundered the country’s economy.
BNP standing committee member and former state minister for power and energy Iqbal Hasan Mahmud presented an analysis titled “Plundering and money laundering through irregularities and corruption in the power and energy sectors during the Awami League government’s 15 years”.
He demanded that all the contracts made in the power and energy sectors during the Sheikh Hasina government be made public. BNP standing committee member Nazrul Islam Khan was also present at the time.
“Awami League government wanted to show magic in the power sector. While showing magic, it plundered the pockets of the people of Bangladesh. In fact, they made power a business sector. They understood that quick money can be made from this sector without any accountability.”
The former state minister said that in the name of this capacity charge, Awami League ministers, MPs and businessmen close to them have taken away about Tk 1 trillion in 15 years.
Iqbal Hasan Mahmud alleged that no contract in the power sector was made in accordance with the public procurement rules.
“We must see the contract. How they made the contracts, it should be public… The job of the interim government is to make every contract open,” he added.
He said Summit Group took over Tk 106.3 billion, Agro International took Tk 79.3 billion, Ultra Power Holdings took Tk 75.23 billion, United Group took Tk 65.75 billion and RPCL took Tk 51.17 billion as capacity charge.
Iqbal Hasan Mahmud said the country’s power sector will crumble down any time as the development in this sector during the Awami League government was not sustainable.
The BNP leader also said Sheikh Hasina and her family members were engaged in corruption of USD 500 billion in the Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant Project.
Ousted prime minister Sheikh Hasina’s relatives plundered from the smart pre-paid meter project while a syndicate led by state minister for power Nasrul Hamid’s company was involved with graft worth billions from LNG projects.
BNP secretary general Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir said BNP will review all projects of power and energy sectors if it goes to power.