Bangladesh’s gas and electricity shortages are expected to ease within the next one to one-and-a-half weeks, with the government taking urgent steps to secure additional LNG and fuel supplies, BNP Acting Secretary General Ruhul Kabir Rizvi said Wednesday.
He said the government has allocated an additional Tk 4,000 crore outside the regular budget to purchase LNG and fuel and meet the needs of households, mills and factories.
“The stove in the kitchen that is now burning dimly due to the gas shortage will burn properly again,” Rizvi said, adding that adequate fuel supplies for industries would also be restored within the same timeframe.
He was speaking at the inauguration of a nationwide tree plantation campaign organised by BNP to mark its 48th founding anniversary. The programme was held near Bashundhara Convention Centre on 300 Feet Road in Dhaka.
Rizvi said technical problems at the Maheshkhali gas terminal had largely been resolved and gas refilling was underway.
He attributed the current energy shortage to the global disruption caused by the US-Iran war and the suspension of fuel-carrying vessels through the Strait of Hormuz. Risks of mine and bomb attacks have disrupted shipping through the strategic waterway, affecting fuel supplies in Bangladesh and other countries.
The government is also holding talks with Malaysia, Indonesia and other countries to explore alternative sources and arrangements for fuel supplies, he said.
Rizvi said the government was taking steps to address the crisis rather than remaining idle, rejecting criticism that the shortages resulted from government failure.
Commenting on the opposition’s protests over the gas crisis, he said a constructive opposition should explain the actual reasons behind the shortage to the public.
BNP Joint Secretary General and Water Resources Minister Shahiduddin Chowdhury Anee, Joint Secretary General Abdus Salam Azad, and Jubo Dal General Secretary and MP Nurul Islam Nayon, among other party leaders, attended the programme.
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