bd EnergY LinK

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EDITORIAL
Power sector: Elusive goals

THE Finance Minister has made it known on Saturday that we to wait till 2012 for a balance between power demand and its supply. It was not long ago that the Minister pledged that power problems would be gone or nearly gone by 2011. Clearly, the extending of the date of no load shedding to 2012, marks a clear admission that implementation activities in the power sector are hardly going well. Consumers of power were gladdened by the earlier optimism that normalcy in power supply could be attained by 2011; their frustration would be only deepened by the latest disclosure.

The government is engaged in fast-track negotiations to get some rental power plants established to generate some 1200mw of power as early as possible. But the rental plants are no substitutes for a sustainable solution to the power crisis. This can be achieved only by bringing into stream power plants of a regular nature feeding on local supplies of coal and gas. But even the coal policy has not been finalised yet not to speak of the mineral’s exploitation. In all likelihood, the plans of bringing the big power plants into operation from 2012 onwards, will fizzle out gradually if appropriate policies are not taken and executed well in time for better results.

Meanwhile, many industries have closed down and more seem destined to met a similar fate for the power crisis. Many industries are operating well below capacity. These are undermining industrial productivity and leading to job shedding when the number of the unemployed ones has reached an unprecedented level. Thus, the days are not far off perhaps when discontentment centred on joblessness and no income, would create an explosive situation. The Government must act on a war footing to improve conditions in the power sector.