Act swiftly to ease energy crisis: Jamaat to govt

Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami on Sunday called upon the government to take immediate steps to address the ongoing power, gas and fuel woes, warning that long-term assurances would not ease public suffering.

Jamaat Secretary General and former MP Mia Golam Porwar made the call at an emergency press conference at the party’s central office in Dhaka.

He said the government had passed a large national budget and could allocate emergency funds to tackle the crisis instead of asking people to wait for years.

Porwar alleged that illegal electricity connections, “ghost” bills and capacity payments to quick rental power plants were causing financial losses. He also alleged that syndicates were controlling parts of the energy and fuel market and called for measures to stop such practices.

Criticising differing statements from government officials, he said some were talking about two years while others were mentioning 10 years for resolving the crisis.

Porwar said Jamaat had submitted a 10-point proposal to the parliamentary special committee on May 21. The proposals include increasing domestic gas production through well workovers, bringing gas from Bhola, Jamalpur and Zakiganj into the national system, intensifying gas exploration, strengthening BAPEX, making the Single Point Mooring operational and expanding rooftop solar power.

The party called for visible progress within 90 days, including workovers of productive wells, action against illegal connections and system losses, publication of gas distribution schedules and activation of digital monitoring systems.

Jamaat also proposed forming a National Emergency Energy Cell involving relevant stakeholders and establishing a joint monitoring mechanism for priority projects.

Porwar questioned the timeline for commercial operation and tariff of the Rooppur base-load power plant and sought updates on proposed terminals at Maheshkhali and Payra and the Rupsha 800MW power plant at Khalishpur.

Responding to the Prime Minister's call for opposition parties to submit plans, Porwar said Jamaat's proposals were already with the government. He proposed a joint implementation framework involving government agencies, opposition parties, energy experts, engineers and businesses, with a progress report to parliament after 90 days.