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Download PDF The task of the new committee on finalising the coal policy is being delayed due to wide difference of opinions among its members over various issues, including the method of mining.
The committee headed by former vice chancellor of Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology Prof Abdul Matin Patwari sits today for a fresh meeting. But it is not yet clear when the committee would be able to complete its job, sources said.
The eight-member committee was formed as the sixth draft of a national coal policy drew a lot of criticism as being anti-investment and self-contradictory.
Formation of this committee was announced on June 21 through a circular with a one-month deadline to complete its task. But its first meeting was held more than a month later because Patwari was on a tour abroad. The committee later inducted two more members.
Till date some of the dominant views that came up at the committee meetings are that a national coal exploration and mining body named “Coal Bangla” should be formed to spearhead mining, export of coal should be fully discouraged and coal policy should be a part of the national energy policy.
On Asia Energy’s proposed Phulbari coal mine project, some speakers firmly opposed allowing open pit mining in the country. Some others however opposed the idea.
“Actually this committee should not have focussed on the method of mining. Its task is to address coal policy matters, and not the method of mining. If that is a serious national issue, that should be left to a technical committee,” said a member of the committee.
“Unfortunately some members and some invited persons who gave their opinions to the committee are viewing this policy as a tool to stop the Asia Energy deal. This is why the whole policy is suffering,” he added.
“This policy is supposed to be a document that would guide the nation’s activities in coal mining, and not just deal with one contract with Asia Energy,” he pointed out.
Participants at the committee meetings also held the view that the draft coal policy was full of contradictions. In describing the country’s coal resources, the policy even did not take into account Jamalganj that holds the biggest coal deposit of 1,053 million tonnes.
“The biggest issue that a policy should address is how it is going to benefit Bangladesh. The future of energy security as it seems today is bleak. The policy should tell us how we can ensure our energy security,” notes a Power Development Board official.
The draft policy says that till 2025, if Bangladesh’s GDP growth rate remains as low as 5.5 percent, it needs 19,000 megawatt additional power. If GDP growth is as high as 8 percent, it needs 41,000 MW additional power.
But Petrobangla has said production of gas, which has been the key source for power generation, will decline from 2011. This is where the country’s coal should play a role.
It adds that to meet the demand for power in a GDP growth scenario of 5.5 percent, Bangladesh will need 136 million tonnes of coal till 2025. If GDP growth rate is 8 percent, then the country will need 450 tonnes of coal.
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