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Current Crisis in the Power Sector: Nature of the Problem and the Way Forward
31 October 2005, BRAC Centre Inn

 

The government should urgently undertake a comprehensive policy initiative to overcome the existing deadlock in power sector, pronounced by experts, academicians, civil society members and donors at a national dialogue on 31 October 2005 at BRAC Centre Inn auditorium. The dialogue titled Current Crisis in the Power Sector: Nature of the Problem and the Way Forward organised by the Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD) was attended by Iqbal Hassan Mahmood, MP, Hon’ble State Minister for Power as the Chief Guest while Sheikh Fazlul Karim Selim, MP, Member of Parliamentary Standing Committee on Energy and Mineral Resources as the Special Guest and Lt Gen (Rtd) Nooruddin Khan, Former Minister for Energy and Mineral Resources as the Guest of Honour.

Shamsul Islam, Former Chairman, Bangladesh Power Development Board (BPDB) and Member of Electricity Advisory Council presented the keynote paper titled Current Power Situation, Problem Being Faced and Suggested Solutions. In his presentation Islam articulated the development of power sector in Bangladesh and described the present problems that it encounters from three different perspectives as physical, financial and in general. He highlighted the lack of available infrastructure to support demand of new customers and the demand of peak hours as physical problem; whereas lack of consistency and transparency in financing the sector and imposing conditions in contracting procedures are identified as financial problems; and indicated issues relate to management and administration as other problems of the power sector of Bangladesh. He emphasised on constituting a working committee involving officials from planning commission, IMED, MoF, MoE&MR, Petrobangla, Power Cell, PGCB, DESA, BPDB, REB and ERC who could lead the sector to overcome current deadlocks and advise strategic guidelines.

Quoting from a 2004 study, CPD Executive Director Debapriya Bhattacharya said, the economy incurred a loss of Tk. 6,850 crore in 2004 due to power outage. This is equal to 2 percent of the GDP. The major affected sector is the commercial and industrial sector. This scenario is worst now.

The Guest of Honour, Former Energy and Mineral Resources Minister of the immediate past government Lt Gen (retd) Nooruddin Khan linked the electricity crisis with the absence of comprehensive policy and urged the government to take a long-term policy in consultation with all - irrespective of their affiliation with party and political beliefs.

The Country Director of World Bank Christine Wallich informed the participants that as donor, the WB is committed to help Bangladesh to improve its power sector. But the government must follow the procurement guidelines and take some effective measures to handle the crisis first, she observed.

The former PDB Chairman Engineer A N H Akhter Hossain suggested setting up power plants of 100 MW capacity each at six different places to meet the immediate need of electricity supply while some other participants blamed the frequent policy changes for the current electricity shortfall in Bangladesh.

In his comments, State Minister for Power Iqbal Hassan Mahmud, the Chief Guest claimed that the government has the political will to improve the situation but there are some lapses which are impeding desired progress. Explaining the government plan to increase power generation, he mentioned at least 300-305 MW power would be added to the national grid by implementing short-term measures and emphasised his governments desire to revitalize the existing power plants to increase power generation.