The Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) yesterday called upon the government to give up its plan to install the coal-based power plant at Rampal near Sundarbans. Asaduzzaman Ripon, BNP’s international affairs secretary, made the demand at a press conference at the party’s Naya Paltan headquarters in Dhaka. Ripon suggested shifting the project from Rampal to another location to safeguard the eco-sensitive Sundarbans. “We need power and there are many sources for it. But there is no alternative to the Sundarbans. The future consequence of the project due to production of about 1,350MW power will be very serious,”
he added.
The BNP leader alleged that the government was not moving from its “whimsical decision” to install the power plant notwithstanding the concern expressed by local and international environmentalists, including
Unicef, over the project’s implementation. He further said the BNP also wanted that such a project should be implemented but that it should not be inimical to the country’s interest.
“We are not opposed to the launch of new power plants. But according to the agreements that the government has signed with two companies, Bangladesh will get only 13 per cent of power and the signatory companies will get the rest 87 per cent. That is not in favour of our interests,”
he added.
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Editor : M. Shamsur Rahman
Published by the Editor on behalf of Independent Publications Limited at Media Printers, 446/H, Tejgaon I/A, Dhaka-1215.
Editorial, News & Commercial Offices : Beximco Media Complex, 149-150 Tejgaon I/A, Dhaka-1208, Bangladesh. GPO Box No. 934, Dhaka-1000.
Editor : M. Shamsur Rahman
Published by the Editor on behalf of Independent Publications Limited at Media Printers, 446/H, Tejgaon I/A, Dhaka-1215.
Editorial, News & Commercial Offices : Beximco Media Complex, 149-150 Tejgaon I/A, Dhaka-1208, Bangladesh. GPO Box No. 934, Dhaka-1000.