Staff Reporter:
Energy, Road Transport and Railways Affairs Adviser Muhammad Fouzul Kabir Khan yesterday said the interim government has started institutional reform works aimed at preventing corruption and ensuring transparency and accountability in all sectors.
“We have started institutional reform works as we are responsible to martyred and injured students of July uprising not any vested group,” he said while addressing a seminar at a local hotel.
The adviser said the interim government has destroyed the infrastructures connected to corruption, be-cause mass people became angry against the last government.
Bangladesh Secretariat Reporters Forum (BSRF) organized the seminar on Harmonizing Reform and Sustainable Infrastructure Development for a Prosperous Bangladesh with its President Fasih Uddin Mahtab in the chair.
Professor Department of Economics, Director, Economic Research Platform Dr AKM Atiqur Rahman presented a keynote paper, while General Secretary of BSRF Masudul Hoque moderated the seminar.
In his keynote, he highlighted some points and suggested for reforms. The points are feasibility study would have to more objective, it was seen some tendency to inflate benefit and underestimate cost of projects, which turned into attractive in Bangladesh.
Dr AKM Atiqur said a system should be developed to conduct feasibility study with professionals and no upper tier interference to bias the study.
“We have not ascended to power, we assumed the responsibility,” he noted saying “so every project should be considered based on people’s interest not for the vested group,” the adviser said.
He said the previous government implemented various projects for the interest of their nexus like vested group, relatives and individual, they grabbed huge amount of money from those big projects.
Pointing out the government’s plan to increase use of renewable energy, the advisor said the ongoing activities under the Quick Enhancement of Electricity and Energy Supply (Special Provisions) Act 2010 (Amended 2021) were suspended along with the government power to fix electricity and gas prices un-der the Section 34 Ka of the Bangladesh Energy Regulatory Commission (Amendment) Act 2023.
The adviser said the government has a plan to excavate 50 exploration wells by 2025, adding, “Hence-forth all purchases in the energy sector will be through open tender method rather than through any ne-gotiation.”
The Energy, Road Transport and Railways Affairs Adviser said that his ministry has taken initiative to install a sub-station to supply electricity smoothly.
“When we take up any project, we go to people and take their opinion. We are initiating project as per people’s demand,” he said adding efforts are underway to reduce corruption at a tolerable limit.
Regarding energy price, Fouzul Kabir said the Bangladesh Energy Regulatory Commission (BERC) will decide on fuel and energy price.
About the institutional reforms, he said that no need to be the chief of Metrorail from the position of former secretary, but it will have experience person to manage metro rail in the country and abroad.
The energy adviser said that LNG is being imported every year at a cost of Taka 5000 to Taka 6000 crore. It will continue to rise if domestic gas reserve is not increased.
Initiatives have been taken to drill more gas wells to increase gas reserve, he added.
Director General of Bangladesh Railway Sardar Shahadat Ali said despite considerable development in the power sector, questions have been raised about their quality.
In a survey on infrastructural development quality (2019), Bangladesh is ranked 105th out of 141 coun-tries across the globe.
Professor of BUET Md Shamsul Alam said the idea of flyover is the idea of the sixties, adding, “Now some countries are destroying flyovers. But we are walking on that wrong path.”
Former President of Bangladesh Institute of Planners Akhter Mahmud said that Dhaka’s sidewalks are being reduced and shaped it shorter, 32 percent of the population travels on foot. “Don’t care about them, focus on the roads. Can’t we call it proper development?” he questioned.
Research Director of CPD Khandaker Golam Moazzem said this government has to take the responsibil-ity of unplanned investment of the previous government.
Umama Fatema, a coordinator of the anti-discrimination student movement, said the Awami League government has looted money in the name of infrastructure development.
Mahin Sarkar, another coordinator of the anti-discrimination student movement, said, “We have seen that the overall economy of the country has not progressed that way, but some new riches were created.”
He said small and cottage industries should be kept alive along with big industries, as they are part of the country’s heritage. Mahin hoped that the interim government would go through a roadmap.
CEAB Chief Advisor Ki Changlian, Jahangir Nagar University Professor Dr Sharmind Neelormi partic-ipated in the discussion.
