Govt shut order to hurt mining

Trackback URL

Download PDF

The government yesterday ordered abolition of the mines and minerals directorate of Petrobangla and re-introduced the post of director administration as per a new organogram that, experts believe, would hurt the nascent mining sector.

Sources said the organogram initially proposed by Petrobangla years ago did not recommend the abolition or introduction of the director administration’s post.

“The establishment ministry has devised it simply to unnecessarily put a joint secretary in Petrobangla’s director’s post,” observes a source.

Petrobangla’s Operation Directorate will now look after the affairs related to the Barapukuria coalmine company and the Maddhyapara hard rock mine company.

Besides, the two companies will have to separately deal with Petrobangla’s finance directorate to deal with financial matters.

Petrobangla officials say this decision will badly hit the two struggling mines of the country, for which Petrobangla had signed Tk 2,800 crore loans with China and North Korea.

“Such a top-down decision is absurd when the coal and other mineral sectors of the country have just become more important than ever,” says a senior Petrobangla official. “We were not consulted by the establishment ministry about its abolition or reintroduction of the director administration.”

Speaking anonymously, a top energy ministry official defends the decision saying the director operation was good enough to look after the two mining companies, which are led by competent managing directors and strong boards of directors.

“This organogram was reviewed by the ministries of establishment, finance and energy. This decision was not taken overnight. Exercise related to the organogram is several years old. The wisdom is that the director operation is sufficient to deal with the mines,” the energy ministry official points out.

“Besides, we are moving towards creation of Khani Bangla, a stronger body to deal with mines and minerals. In any case, we’ll have to set that up to manage coal strongly,” he adds.

The ministry is revising the draft coal policy that talks about Khani Bangla with a view to sending it to the cabinet for approval by early next month, he notes.

But his views are strongly opposed by Petrobangla insiders.

“We don’t have a Khani Bangla now. We don’t even have an approved policy and if we had the policy approved soon, the Khani Bangla will not take off before 2011,” says a Petrobangla official.

Petrobangla’s Operation Director already deals with 12 other companies and is the busiest person in Petrobangla, especially as gas crisis has taken a permanent shape.

The sources say the director operations already holds five to seven meetings a day and would simply bog down with the new charges. “The mines will not get due attention,” the official observes.

“Again, we ask why do we need a director for administration? This is a useless post that is often misused by people who seek undue favours from employees for transfers and postings. We have been carrying out without any director operations for the last 10 years. Why do we need it now, especially when the organogram seeks structural reduction of Petrobangla’s manpower?” he asks.

He goes on to say, “We need it because the Administration Cadre wishes to have a post in Petrobangla!”

The government had demonstrated dynamism in the late 90’s by abolishing the post of director administration and introducing the post of Director Production Sharing Contract (PSC) in Petrobangla to deal with oil companies working in the gas sector. A Chief of Personnel (COP) was carrying out the job of the director administration.

“Affairs related to transfers and postings in Petrobangla are so simple that a COP is enough for the job. The COP worked directly under the chairman,” the official notes.

The mines and minerals directorate itself has a long history. Till 1985, the country had a Bangladesh Mineral Exploration Development Corporation (BMEDC) that did not have any mine, but just the prospects of some coal, limestone and other minerals in its vision. As the BMEDC was making no progress, the government merged it with Petrobangla.

NEW ORGANOGRAM
Another Petrobangla official describes the new organogram that was approved earlier this week. “It outlines position of 652 officers and staffs and five directors. The total number of workforce is several dozens lower than the past organogram that was in force since 1989.”

“The new organogram does not require retrenchment of manpower,” he points out. “Petrobangla is already running short of manpower. There are vacancies for 56 officers.”

Petrobangla will now recruit new officers and other staffs, he adds.

MINES AND PETROBANGLA’S STAKES
Both the Barapukuria coalmine and the Maddhyapara hard rock mine have numerous problems and both are incurring loss. Petrobangla also has many unsettled issues with the Chinese and North Korean builders with the two mines.

The Barapukuria mine was built under a Chinese Supplier’s Credit worth Tk 1,430 crore and the Maddhyapara mine worth another Tk 1,400 crore under another Supplier’s Credit with North Korea.

The government has already cleared half of these loans, though the mines have come into partial operation only a couple of years ago.

“Though these are loss generating for now, they are giving us valuable experience which will help us move to bigger ventures in future,” observes an official.

In addition to these two mines, Petrobangla also has a licence to explore the Dighipara Coal zone in collaboration with a strategic partner.

Leave a Reply