Prime Minister Tareque Rahman has issued three important directives to tackle the energy crisis and increase the use of renewable energy. They are: solar panels will be installed in phases on the country’s important government buildings; government support will be given for importing the raw materials used to make solar inverters domestically; and an effective economic model will be drawn up to make solar power affordable, accessible and profitable for ordinary people.
He gave the directives on Monday at a meeting on solar power at the Prime Minister’s Office in the Cabinet Division of the Secretariat, deputy press secretary Hasan Shiplu said.
He said the meeting decided that, in the first phase, solar panels would be installed in stages on Bangabhaban, the Prime Minister’s Office in Tejgaon, the National Parliament building, the prime minister’s office and the finance ministry building at the Bangladesh Secretariat, the Planning Commission building and other important government buildings. The prime minister said that once solar power came into use in government buildings, public interest in the technology would grow, which was why he had directed its installation on various government buildings.
PRAN-RFL Group and Walton Group made separate presentations on installing solar panels on residential buildings and feeding the generated electricity into the national grid. Their presentations said the initiative would save power and energy while also creating new jobs. The meeting also heard that the economic and practical benefits of solar power should be publicised widely to raise consumer interest, and that the technology could run air conditioners, fans, lifts and other electrical equipment.
The meeting was attended by Finance and Planning Minister Amir Khasru Mahmud Chowdhury, the prime minister’s finance and planning adviser Rashed Al Mahmud Titumir, State Minister for Local Government, Rural Development and Cooperatives Mir Shah Alam, Bangladesh Investment Development Authority (BIDA) executive chairman Ashik Chowdhury, National Board of Revenue (NBR) acting chairman Ahsan Habib, PRAN-RFL Group chairman Ahsan Khan Chowdhury and the group’s solar and renewable-energy AGM Towhidul Ahad, Walton Group managing director SM Mahbubul Alam, and secretaries and senior officials of various ministries.
Separately, the governing board of the Bangladesh Economic Zones Authority (BEZA) has taken important decisions on expanding the country’s economic zones, boosting investment, creating jobs and protecting the environment. The decisions were taken at a meeting on Monday afternoon at the Prime Minister’s Office in the Cabinet Division of the Bangladesh Secretariat, chaired by Prime Minister Tareque Rahman, the press wing said.
The press wing said the meeting decided that, as part of the government’s 25-crore (250-million) tree-planting programme, trees would be planted in every EPZ, with a total of 1.25 lakh (125,000) trees to be planted in various EPZs. The initiative was taken to maintain environmental balance alongside industrialisation, increase greenery and develop the economic zones as environmentally friendly.
The meeting also reviewed progress on implementing the decisions of BEZA’s 9th governing-board meeting, and discussed establishing new economic zones, reviewing the assessment of private economic zones, and making the best use of unused state-owned industrial assets. It also reviewed the possibility of using the land and existing infrastructure of Narayanganj’s Karim Jute Mills and Latif Bawany Jute Mills for economic activity, stressing the attraction of domestic and foreign investment, job creation and energising the local economy by setting up modern industry there. There was also discussion of following set guidelines for private economic zones’ applications and licences and of framing a new policy.
At the meeting, the prime minister stressed developing the economic zones as green, modern and investment-friendly industrial areas by blending industrialisation with environmental protection.
The meeting was attended by Finance Minister Amir Khasru Mahmud Chowdhury, Commerce Minister Khondaker Abdul Muktadir, Environment, Forest and Climate Change Minister Abdul Awal Mintoo, Road Transport and Bridges, Railways, Expatriate Welfare and Overseas Employment Minister Ariful Haque Chowdhury, Shipping Minister Sheikh Rabiul Alam, and BIDA’s current executive chairman Ashik Chowdhury.
বাংলায় মূল প্রতিবেদন পড়ুন · Read the original Bengali report