The government is expecting to finalise the long-awaited policy soon to extract the huge coal reserves to supplement fast depleting gas resources, a senior energy official said yesterday."To meet the energy demand we will have to use the coal resources," said M. Tamim, Chief Adviser's Special Assistant for Power, Energy and Mineral Resources."I ask all to leave it (issue of coal extraction) to the experts, have trust in them," he said, responding to critics who oppose any deal with foreign companies to run the coal fields."Everything will be done on the basis of accountability and transparency," Tamim told a seminar on "Energy security and Development."Bangladesh, with its 150 million population, faces a serious energy crisis, with lack of gas to produce electricity. The crisis is set to worsen by 2011 when its proven and recoverable gas reserves could run out.As a result, attention is increasingly turning to the country's vast coal resource."The draft of the coal policy is soon to be placed before a cabinet meeting for approval," Tamim said.The country now extract coal from just one of five fields with 2.55 billion tonnes, with technical assistance from a Chinese firm.Energy officials say Bangladesh should adopt the coal policy quickly, to allow foreign firms to work on two large coal fields in the country's north at an early date.The projects worth a total US$6 billion have been put forward by Indian conglomerate Tata Group and Asia Energy Corporation (Bangladesh), a sister firm of UK-based GCM Resources PLC.Both are pending as environment assessment and rights groups have continued to protest to force the government not to allow foreign investors in the coal sector.The government, however, says it would carefully consider all issues and concerns before handing them over to any investor and that the coal policy will have provisions to protect local interests.
Source : The New Nation
02/06/08
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