Prime Minister Tarique Rahman has said Bangladesh’s gas supply situation is expected to improve further within the next five to seven days.
The BNP chairman made the remarks on Friday while addressing the ongoing gas crisis at a programme that provided financial assistance to mosques, madrasas, orphanages and temples in the Dhaka-17 constituency.
During his speech, Tarique spoke about the current electricity and energy situation, the reasons behind the gas supply crisis, and the measures taken by the government to address the problem.
He said Bangladesh is facing challenges in electricity, gas and fuel supplies, adding that the government has never denied the severity of the situation.
Bangladesh, like many other countries, has been grappling with an energy crisis since the outbreak of the war in the Middle East, he added.
Tarique said the war situation in the Middle East started just 12 days after the government was formed, leading to a rise in oil prices in the international market.
He said the government initially tried to avoid raising oil prices so that people would not face additional pressure.
“We did not want to increase the price of oil at first. But we saw that some dishonest people, a small number of dishonest people, started using the oil in such a way that it had a negative effect on the people. Then we were forced to increase the price of oil,” he said.
Tarique also said Bangladesh has to import gas as pressure from locally produced gas has declined and no new gas wells were drilled for a long time.
He said two large ships are stationed at sea to receive imported gas. Around one to one and a half months ago, one of the ships caught fire, disrupting the gas supply. The exact cause of the fire is yet to be confirmed, he said.
“It could be sabotage, it could be an accident. We still cannot say for sure what it was before the investigation is complete,” he added.
Tarique also alleged that a dishonest group is illegally drawing gas from pipelines amid the ongoing shortage.
He said some people are using machines brought from abroad or locally made devices to draw gas from pipelines. While such activities may benefit a few individuals, they leave many other consumers in surrounding areas facing shortages, he said.
Tarique said similar illegal practices are also taking place in the electricity and fuel sectors.
“Maybe five people are doing it, but 100 people are suffering,” he said.
Speaking about the country’s gas resources, Tarique Rahman said the actual state of Bangladesh’s underground gas reserves is still not fully known, although the country is believed to have gas beneath the surface.
He said the issue had also been discussed in parliament in recent days.
Tarique alleged that over the past 17 years, the country’s energy sector had been made heavily dependent on foreign sources, while Bapex, the state-owned oil and gas exploration company, was not allowed to function properly.
“Our government has an organisation called Bapex, whose responsibility is to explore for gas and oil in Bangladesh. They had completely crippled Bapex and, in various ways, created opportunities for foreign companies to operate here,” he said.
He said the current government had taken necessary steps to make Bapex active after assuming office.
Explaining the uncertainty in gas exploration, Tarique compared it with installing a deep tube well.
He said just as water is not always found wherever a well is dug, there is no guarantee that gas will be found wherever a gas well is drilled.
Gas exploration is also very costly, he added. “So we are trying to explore 130 gas wells, and this initiative has been taken. We are hopeful that we will find gas in many of them. When we find gas, naturally the situation will definitely improve.”
Tarique also called on people to play their part in stopping the illegal extraction of gas instead of relying solely on the government. “The government alone is not the country. The country belongs to all of us. Every person is a partner in this country. Everyone has a responsibility to this country.”
He urged people to speak out if they see anyone illegally using gas or electricity or stealing state resources.
Tarique also said every citizen has a right to state resources.
Dhaka-17 Issues
At the beginning of his speech, Tarique told voters in Dhaka-17 that he had not been able to give as much time to the constituency as he should have after the election because of his state responsibilities.
He apologised for this.
He said the pilot phase of the Family Card programme had been launched in Dhaka-17 and that it could take another one to one and a half months to complete the process.
“We hope that, from November or December this year, we will be able to distribute Family Cards nationwide to around 4.1 million families, with the cards issued to the female heads of those households,” he said.
Tarique urged the institutions that received financial assistance at the programme to use the money properly for their development.
