Iqbal & His Humble Views

Power Generation : Problems and Prospects

Power Generation : Problems and Prospects
Muhd. Iqbal Hussain Sharif

As an Individual Consultant, I mainly work on Power Generation in the Private Sector, Garments Buying as well as do supply Textile Machinery, Cotton, etc. As the only Consultant ( as per the signed agreement with the Chairman & Managing Director of the Company on May 01, 1998 ), I assisted “Westmont Power ( Bangladesh ) Limited”, a Bangladesh-Malaysia Joint Venture Power Generation Company, to get the Govt.’s Permission and to start their 130 MW Burge Mounted Power Generation Project in Bangladesh (( 02 such Projects in Baghabari of Sirajgong District. At the initial stage, the Company Management was really good, their Proposal submitted before the Govt. was 100% Perfect in all respects, but later on, they became involved in Corruptions, did not clear my legal Consultancy Fees, without whose advice, they could not even enter into the Power Generation business in Bangladesh and that is why, I filed the Money Suit No. 62 of 2003 to realize my Fees and Civil Revision No. 484 of 2008 [ Attachment of the Power Project Before Judgment ] against the Company as well as their Management, which are pending in the High Court Division of the Bangladesh Supreme Court and if Almighty Allah permits, expect to get the judgment at any time in 2009 )). At this moment, I am trying to attract Foreign Investments & Technical Expertise in this Power Generation Sector, which is in due progress and I do have the capacities to set up 10 MW to 450 MW Power Project on BOO / BOT and Unsolicited basis.

Based upon my Practical Experiences in this Power Generation Sector, I do firmly believe, the Power Generation problem in Bangladesh could easily be solved within maximum 14 to 36 months’ time, if the Govt. Officially declares that :-

A) No Tender : Since now on, there shall be No Tender System for the Power Generation business. The Policy should be something as easy as we buy our daily necessities from the Shops & Markets. To sale or buy Rice, Fish, Vegetables, etc. in the daily markets throughout Bangladesh, we the Citizens, common Sellers or Buyers, do not need any license from anyone ( except the Trade License for the Sellers in some cases ). Similarly, the interested Persons/Companies should also be allowed to Generate Power and sell the same to anybody. The Country will be developed, automatically !

* In case of any Tender, there is a Clause like this : “The Authority reserves the Right to Accept or Reject any or all Tenders including the lowest bid without assigning any reasons, whatsoever” and this particular Clause in the Tender is the only basis of not only 100%, but 1,000% Corruptions. That is why, the concerned Persons become Rich and Rich without any White Source of Income, as they are the valued Members ( ! ) of the so-called Evaluation Committee and due to their hidden expertise, the Country becomes Poorer day by day and we, the Common People, do suffer for the “Willful Corruptions” of only a few so-called expert persons. Therefore, Tender is not the only way of Transparency, which depends mainly upon the Ethical Standard of the concerned Person/s related to the Evaluation of the Tender and we all need to understand this simple thing.

B) Open to All : The Power Generation business must be opened to all. Any Company, any Person, be allowed to Generate ( at the declared Zone of the Country ) & Sale Power to the Govt. as well as to the Public at a fixed Price. No question of past Experience be asked, no need to invite the proposal or to evaluate the same, as all the Generated Power throughout the WORLD is 100% same, no difference at all.

C) Ten to Twenty-Five years’ Plan : The Govt. shall declare a Ten-years to Twenty-Five years’ Plan well in advance. Say minimum 12 months in advance informing, ( a ) The proposed Power Generation Zone/s of the Country ; ( b ) Total Power to be purchased by the Govt. per day within that Ten-years to Twenty-Five years’ Plan ( say, minimum 5,000 MW to 10,000 MW or so depending upon the total requirements per day during that mentioned Plan ) from all the Power Generating Companies/Persons as well as ( c ) The Unit Price of Power at which the Govt. shall buy ( minimum 9.5 MW to maximum 100 MW from a single Company/Person ) and shall be bound to buy the said 9.5 MW to 100 MW of Power from the Power Generating Companies/Persons at the much earlier declared Price on the basis of First-come-First Served basis.

D) Unit Price of Power : This could be fixed on the Average Unit Price at which the Govt. has been buying the Power from the Independent Power Producing Companies since long ( USD 0.453 Cents to USD 0.272 Cents per Kilowatt hour ). Even, a higher Price per Unit of Power could also be declared considering the demand and gravity of the situation, as the costs of Idle Laborers, Idle Machinery, Unemployed Manpower and Production Loss throughout the Country ( during the time of Load-Shedding and also due to the Non-availability of Power on Demand ) are surely 1,000 times’ more expensive than the so-called higher unit price of Electricity.

E) Fare Competition : To ensure Fare Competitions in the Power Business, the Govt. must declare in advance that she would buy minimum 9.5 MW to maximum 100 MW of Power from each Power Generating Company/Person, which would increase the Number of Competitors and the Supply of Power on Demand and would also save the Country from the curses of Monopoly Business.

F) Method of Payment of Bills : The Price of the purchased Power could be paid in Bangladeshi Taka as well as in Foreign Currencies ( say, 70% in Taka and 30% in Foreign currencies ) with an aim to reduce the pressure on the Govt.’s Foreign Currency reserve as well as to give incentives to the Investors.

If this simple ( as easy as Sea Water ), but unique Policy is Officially accepted and declared in Public on Priority basis, there shall be no Corruption at all in this Power Generation business, as the Quality of Power shall be the 100% same and this Policy shall eliminate the scopes of Corruptions by the authority concerned in the name of Evaluation of the Tender/Bid and the Negotiation of Price, which shall solve the present Power Generation crisis only within the next 14 to 36 months’ time period. Even, the Govt. shall not have to spend any additional amount ( rather, she would be extremely economically benefited due to the overproduction of Goods & Services and by employing the unemployed Citizens throughout the Country ), except the execution of the Policies as above mentioned.

Due to the Policy, being highly inspired, the local interested Parties along with their Foreign Partners or even alone shall come forward to hire ready Burge Mounted/Trailer Mounted Power Plants from abroad, Tow and Install the same, which would take maximum 14 months’ time period to Generate & Sell Power while, the Land-based Power Plants may take more or less 36 months only.

In the total process, no Extra Money or unusual Supervision shall be required from the Govt.’s side, except the confirmation and firm execution of the above mentioned Govt. Policy. If so, the local interested Companies and their Banks would come forward with their own resources and Foreign Partners, if any. Naturally, there shall be no shortage of fund and no need to request the Donor Countries/Agencies any more at the cost of our Country’s image.

* It would highly be appreciated, if this humble suggestions could be considered on Priority basis considering the Number One Priority ( in respect of the National Developments ) of our Country. If you do believe that there are certain real limitations ( not emotion ) to apply this Policy as expressed in my write-up, instead of Assisting, it would rather Destroy our National Economy, in that case, all concerned are humbly requested to please do come forward in an open mind to discuss the same with the Specific Logical Arguments / SLA ( without saying “MERE NO” to this humble Proposal ). I would really appreciate, if anyone of you would please do contact me in writing at my Urttara Address : ( a ) Through e-mail as well as by ( b ) Registered Post with Acknowledgement showing your most logical arguments ( maximum 03-Pages ; Fonts :14 Points ) against my Humble Proposal ( as expressed in this Write-up ) within March 08, 2009 at the latest.

* With all of your kind views ( expressed by you in writings as mentioned above ) as would be received by me, I would like to organize a Press Conference ( National Debate ) sometimes in July-August, 2009 in your kind presence as well as some of the Hon’ble Members of the Civil Society, Representative of the Govt.( if any ) and the Electronic & Printing Media at the National Press Club, VIP Lounge, Dhaka or ” The China-Bangladesh Friendship Auditorium” in Sher-e-Bangla Nagar, Agargaon, Dhaka to discuss the issue and would like to reward you with Tk.1,00,000.00 ( Taka One Lac ) in cash as a token of REGARDS, if I am not in a position to cross your arguments logically & legally viz., if you would win by applying your legal logic only.

Would any one interested do please come forward to CROSS the total 06 Points (A to F) of my PROPOSAL ? But if you are automatically convinced after going through my Proposal, would you then please do your best to convince the Government, please ? You are all welcome & humbly requested to please assist me to approve the Policy as above mentioned just for the cause of our National Interests. You please approve the Policy, I would give you the Power on demand, even you would have the additional electricity to export. It’s my challenge and all of you are most welcome to please face my arguments, if you do believe contrary.

I do strongly believe from my heart that there is no need to go for any so-called research at all whether to allow this Policy or not, if we do not want to protect the mentioned Corrupts at the costs of our National Economy, our People. Now it is the high time to think again and the Govt. shall have to decide, whom she would like to protect, the Country as a whole, the Fate of 150 Millions of wonderful People or those so-called 0.010% Experts, who are on our Shoulders just like the “Old Lady” of the World-famous Story of “Sindbad” or “Bugs” in our Beds ?

The End

N.B. : This write up was transmitted on Tuesday, June 12, 2007 at ‘[email protected]’ at 6.05 pm to Dr. A. B. Mirza Md. Azizul Islam, Hon’ble Finance Adviser, Govt. of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh, though no response as yet.

The write up has been slightly modified on Friday, October 10, 2008