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Access to adequate power is a critically important issue for Bangladesh. Most of the electricity supplied by the government is generated by burning natural gas supplied from a few gas fields. Until a few years ago, many gas exploration experts and analysts had believed that Bangladesh has vast reserves of natural gas that could meet the country’s demand for several decades and, at the same time, would have enough to export gas to neighboring countries. Several donor agencies had pushed the government to go for gas export contracts with multinational companies on the argument that the vast reserve will face diminished values if they remain untapped and un-exported when the demand for it from neighboring countries is high. We are lucky that, for some reason or other, the government did not sign gas export contracts. Today, most recent assessments show a very different picture of gas reserve. In reality, the nation now is faced with the fact that several gas fields are producing much less quantities than expected, which has already resulted to severe shortage of the electrical power generated from gas. This, in turn, has resulted to significant restrictions in the supply of electrical power for domestic and industrial use. The production of urea fertilizer, an engine of agricultural growth, has been curtailed. Over and above, it has severely stifled industrial growth in the country -- new factories that have been approved for operation are waiting to start their operation for many months for lack of gas supply. The potential for future growth of industries is taking a bleak turn.
Just a few months ago, the government increased the price of natural gas by almost 100% and that of petroleum products by 30-40%. This has caused a spiral effect on the price of most goods and services as these are, directly or indirectly, dependent on the price of power.
While the supply side problems of power and energy are obvious and most often talked about in various forums, their demand side remains largely unattended. The continuous and unrestricted inflow of cars to the very limited road network of the cities and highways of Bangladesh is choking the roads, which is causing wasteful burning of gas and petroleum, and huge wastage of time of travelers. This, in turn, is slowing down the speed of business as well as business growth in the country. The resulting air pollution in the cities has taken a scary dimension, with all its negative effects on human health. But the government seems oblivious of such problems as would be manifested in the recent revised car import policy that would encourage older and bigger vehicles to be imported with lesser import duty. Burning of gas for cooking in cities is “free and unlimited” once one has paid the fixed rate for each burner. Stories of continuous burning of gas in the kitchen, drying of clothes, etc. abound; yet, no concrete progress has been made to install gas meters in households.
The above are just a few examples of the various issues that our nation is faced in relation to power. The BUET Alumni Association (BUETAA), a non-profit social organization of former graduates of Bangladesh University of Engineering University and its predecessor institutions, and The Prothom Alo, the most popular daily newspaper in Bangladesh and an advocate of change-for-better, have jointly organized a Round Table discussion on the above-cited topic that will be held on 23 August 2008 at the headquarters of The Prothom Alo. The sponsors have enlisted an impressive group of about 20 professionals from various backgrounds, who are highly knowledgeable on the issues. A most useful outcome is expected from the deliberations that should take place in the meeting. A summary of the output will be posted on the BUETAA website (www.buetaa.org) in due course.
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