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World Bank & ADB plans are fatwas: Sa Qa Chow MP |
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March 1, 2001
Dhaka--- Accumulative loss, theft and inefficiency in the sector altogether knocked the Power Development Board on the verge of collapse, the worried PDB chairman disclosed yesterday. PDB incurs Tk 150 crore in loss every year as it sells power to DESA and REB at prices much less than average generation costs of Tk 2 per unit, Brigadier MA Malek said giving one of the causes. In compensation, he told a workshop, PDB does not get any subsidies from the government, nor does it get any loans from banks at concessional interest rates. Power theft accounts for 15 to 20 per cent of the total generation, he stated and believed the present generation, around 2800 MW, would be more than enough to feed the current consumers if the pilferage could be plugged. “If run efficiently and theft checked, we could save 400 to 500 MW power,” the army officer-turned-PDB-boss told the workshop on ‘Power Sector Reforms,” jointly organised by The Independent and the World Bank at CIRDAP auditorium. The power board’s arrears amounted roughly to Tk 3600 crore from DESA and various government and private agencies. On the other hand, outside funding stopped since 1991, making it difficult for PDB to overhaul its old generation plants, the Chairman said. Salauddin Quader Chowdhury MP, also a member of the parliamentary standing committee on Energy Ministry, Energy Secretary Akmal Hossain, former power division secretary Arabinda Kar, former chairman of Atomic Energy Commission Dr Anwar Hossain and former secretary Nurunnabi Chowdhury also spoke at the function. Former chairman of PDB Nooruddin Mahmud Kamal was the keynote speaker while Independent editor Mahbubul Alam moderated the talks on the hot issue held at a time when countrymen began to feel the vexation of power problem at the very outset of hot season. Speakers at the workshop called for participation of all parties, including the labour unions, and strong political will backed by resolute actions to expedite the much-needed reforms, which should come out of own needs, not just because donors want it. They said there should be a change in policies and perceptions about the reforms. Funds from outside will not be required if non-resident Bangladeshis are attracted to invest in small power plants, ranging from 10 MW down to 1 for remote areas, some of the speakers felt. DESA that consumes 50 per cent of total generation owes Tk 2100 crore as arrears while PDB’s unpaid bills to government and private organisations amount to Tk 1500 crore, the brigadier informed the meet, giving a worrying picture of PDB’s financial state. As World Bank and other international lenders stopped financing PDB since 1991, the Board faces fund constraints in carrying out routine repair and overhauling of its age-old, dilapidated and unreliable power plants. So generation remains much less than the total installed capacity of 3700 MW, he explained. The PDB Chairman admitted inefficiency on the part of power officials in management and revenue collection, but hoped the situation would improve by this June. Detailing the wide gap between the procurement and selling prices, Malek said PDB’s cost of generation at DESA level is Tk 2 and selling price is Tk 1.91, while it is Tk 2.25 and Tk 1.87 for REB, and Tk 3.18 and Tk 2.95 for PDB’s own distribution network. Average generation costs have gone up to Tk 2 per KWH from Tk 1.50 since it started buying electricity from independent power producers (IPPs), he informed the meeting. Energy Secretary Akmal Hossain, endorsing the contentions of the PDB chief, said PDB incurs loss due to the power tariff subsidy given by the government that fixes both the buying and selling rates of power for the board. But he visibly contradicted Malek’s comment that PDB gets no subsidies from the government in return. PDB gets gas at US$ 1 per thousand cft that the government buys at $2.8-2.9 fr0om international oil companies. Whereas, IPPs buy the same gas at the rate of $2.4 per thousand cft, he said giving the differentials. Quoting a study report the secretary said dishonesty, corruption and inefficiency of PDB lead to huge system loss in power sector. Akmal termed the gas-supply agreement with KAFCO a “shameful and criminal” one as it sets the gas price at only 90 cent per thousand cft, which will cost the exchequer Tk 778 crore every year till 2015. The energy secretary said the present government inherited the energy policy from the previous BNP government and based the power sector vision statement on that very policy without changing a single word. Responding to the call for restructuring the power sector, he said no reforms can take place unless there be resolute decision of the government. “Bureaucracy doesn’t change, nor it acts as catalyst to change… There must be public awareness and political will and action on the part of politicians.” Salahuddin Quader Chowdhury MP said reforms should be undertaken “out of our own necessity, not just because of ‘fotwas’ of World Bank, ADB and others”. He said DESA was created following such ‘fotwas’, but it did not work. “Now we’re waiting for another fotwa,” the MP said in a note of humour, commenting that the donors-prescribed “unbundling exercise” proved futile. He suggested labour unions and CBA must be involved and discussed in the reform process as they are the people sensitised by fear of losing jobs. Former chairman of the Atomic Energy Commission Dr Anwar Hossain said attention was always meant for privileged classes, not to the needs of average poor masses. He suggested setting up of smaller power plants with own transmission and distribution systems under Remote Area Power Supply (RAPS) system for quick rural electrification. Some 21 such areas, including some islands, can have such systems wherein private sector and expatriate Bangladeshis can participate, he said. “Then we’ll no longer need the intervention of World Bank and others. We can do it with local money from banks,” said the nuclear scientist, who also referred to the prospects for renewable energy such as solar, wind and biomas. Nooruddin M Kamal, the keynote speaker, said electricity to all by 2013 is an illusion with per-capita generation of 112 kwh, assumed per-annum growth rate 10 per cent while only 20 per cent people have the access to electricity by now. The demand forecast is 6070 MW in the year 2007 while installed generation capacity is expected to be 7463 MW, including 2050 MW from IPPs. Investment requirement for next 10 years in power sector is estimated at US$ 6 billion, he said. |