The recent government move to shut down the CNG stations for 6 hours without having existing problems solved has sparked new criticism against the government. The criticism spread beyond the CNG station owners and the businessmen in the transportation sector to the middle class. The stakeholders made it clear to the government that they would not go for any protest during the month of Ramadan. But, there would not be alternative to create pressure on the government if the embargo continues beyond the holy month. The government, however, defended that the decision of shutting down the CNG stations was not in any case whimsical.
In 1982, the CNG project was introduced with financing from the World Bank. But it cannot be said that the sector flourished under the government control until the year 2000, prompting the government to open it up to the private sector. The price of CNG was Tk 7.45 per cubic meter sience 1985. and after that It stands a bit higher at Tk 8.50 in 2020. However, the price of CNG has never been adjusted against that of imported fuel oil. During the last caretaker government there was a proposal to the chief adviser to raise the price to Tk 30 per cubic meter, but it was raised to Tk 16.75. The chief adviser’s special assistant Prof M Tamim had claimed that the savings due to use of CNG as compared to diesel, petrol and octane is much more.
The Energy & Power had introduced Green Page marking its stepping into the 7th year to campaign for efficient use of energy, energy conservation and using environment-friendly energy. Encouraged by the readers and patrons, the EP decided to continue with the pages as it is stepping into the 8th year. The EP would make its best effort to keep up the campaign
The situation is that the government has pledged to make a load shedding free Bangladesh by 2012, only 16 months away from now, while people are still left literally in darkness. People may take some comfort from the government’s assurance of uninterrupted power supply. But, they have lots of concerns as well, and have started asking question regarding the path the government will follow for the energy sector. Serious questions are also emerging whether government can at all achieve the smooth supply of power and energy for the socio-economic development of the people.
