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No hasty decision on coal policy

PM stresses thorough study on proposal

UNB, Dhaka
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina yesterday said that her government will not take any hasty decision regarding the coal policy.
“We will not take any decision whimsically, we will examine pros and cons of any proposal before implementing it,” she said at the National Science and Technology Council (NSTC) meeting at the PM's Office.
This was the 6th meeting of the NSTC and the last meeting was held on February23,1998.
The PM who chaired the meeting said that there is plenty of coal in Bangladesh. “But, the scenario of the country is different from that of other countries,” she said.
The premier informed that her government sent a team to Germany to observe the coal extraction systems. She said the open pit coal mining in Germany was viable as the country has vast lands and the coalmines situated at places where there is no dense population like Bangladesh.
“We have to think about the people of the area and loss of lands before going for extracting coal from the mine,” she told the meeting.
The government would not take any decision that might harm the interest of the people and inflict sufferings to them, she said.
After extracting the coal from the mine, it must be worked out how the vacated mine would be filled up, she added.
“So, we will not take any decision in a hurried manner and this is not possible for us as we are a pro-people government,” she said.
On the power situation, the PM said the power situation remains the same when her government took the office previouslyin 1996.
“We are all working hard to mitigate the power deficit and I firmly believe we will solve the problem," she said.
The concerned ministers and officials are active to get rid of the present power crisis, she added.
“All are working tirelessly day and night to bring comfort for the people and welfare of the country,” she informed.
Hasina reiterated that the present power crisis was created by the previous BNP-Jamaat alliance government and they are the solely responsible for the public misery.
Hasina directed the concerned officials to install solar power at all research institutes for uninterrupted power supple whatever be the cost.
“The researchers need uninterrupted power supply when they are engaged in research works," she said.
She also opined that all research institutes would be established in one place for better coordination among the research works of different institutions.
Hasina said it would not be possible to attain desired development for the country without advancement of science and technology and her government always encourages research works.
The PM said the government is thinking to relax the retirement age for researchers and said, “Age must not be a hurdle to research."
She said her government has allocated Tk 18 crore as block allocation for research work apart from regular allocation.
“If needed, we will increase the allocation,” she promised.
The NSTC meeting adopted a reference of felicitation on decoding the genome sequenc -ing of jute by Bangladeshi scientists.
The meeting also adopted a condolence motion on the deaths of a number of scientists including eminent nuclear scientist Dr MAWazed Miah.
At the meeting the government decided to seek more opinions from the experts regarding the National Science andTechnologyPolicy.
The PM asked the concerned officials to post the policy in the website to collect opinions from the experts and mass people.
The NSTC requested the PM to re-allocate their land, which was taken away during the last caretaker regime, for constructing its own building.
The PM assured that she
would re-allocate the land if the land was not allocated for any otherorganisation.
It was decided to send a proposal to the Speaker for nominating one lawmaker to be included in the NSTC as a member.
Council Members Finance Minister AMA Muhith, Agriculture Minister Matia Chowdhury, Food and Disaster Management Minister Abdur Razzak and State Minister for Science and Communication Technology Yeafesh Osman, among others, were present.