Law letter
Lawmakers
study power sources
It is surprising but probably good news that lawmakers
desire to enrich their knowledge base on the power and
energy sector as reported in some local papers on March
17. Hopefully it will help us to come out of the perennial
power shortfall in the country, if our lawmakers are determined
to find a solution.
While
on their visit abroad my humble suggestion to the law
makers would be to carefully look at alternative energy
options apart from conventional gas and coal based power
plants from different sources to enhance power capabilities
in Bangladesh. Some of these viable sources that can be
studied and which are operating in US and Europe are:
a)
Using stand by GenSet as power system resource during
peak demand.
b) Producing power from municipal waste.
c) Reco~ery of power (without need of f}el) from gas transmission
line xressure drop stations.
d) IT based transfer switchgear for taking LT power from
small generating units to the distribution network.
Other sources like wind power, solar cells, micro |urbines
(river current) are not cost effective. As a matter of
fact these sources of power are highly subsidized even
in developed countries. In this connection as a citizen
of Bangladesh, I will be glad to give a briefing to our
honorable lawmakers prior to their visit overseas so they
can have some ideas on what are the options to look at.
All the above options are comparatively low capital cost
based, which can easily enhance our power availability.
Eng.
S.A. Mansoor Gulshan, Dhaka
Waiting
for a century!
RAB have been working in Bangladesh since last year. The
work of this special force is to control the law and order
of the country. While loing their duty, RAB already have
killed 98 citizens (till April1, 2005) in different parts
of Bangladesh. Maybe those people were criminals, may
be not. But the thing is this; all those citizens died
without any justice. They were killed in so-called crossfire.
Though
RAB breached the human rights of our country, I still
really appreciate (!) their work. Courts of Bangladesh
take a lot of time to conduct cases. Sometimes criminals
die before the hearing of their cases! In this situation,
RAB is making things easier for the court. Justice is
not needed for these criminals; they should better be
killed quickly in this way, isn't it? Therefore a{ a citizen
of Bangladesh, I am very much pleased (!) on RAB's work.
To get justice in the court it takes a lot of time, so
why we are not taking a short-cut way? Better let them
do everything rapidly, as they are called Rapid Action
Battalion.
RAB
is only 2 lives short to knock a century. We are eagerly
waiting for that.
Mashih-ul-Huq (Vashkar) Uttara, Dhaka
Hartal
- for whom you are?
The prosper of a nation is nothing but a vain dream if
the might of a nation turns into its threat. In a democra|ic
country like Bangladesh, opposition parties {hould pzove
themselves as pathfinder towards the betterment of the
county by co-operating the government. If the government
goes wrong, the opposition should protest to demonstrate
the disapproval of certain action or to realise demands
in respect of the political process. However, all of this
should be done only for the welfare of the general people.
Nevertheless, opposition parties most of the time call
for hartal as a weapon to protest. When a fishmrman use
electric net to catch {ome specific fishes, lots of other
fishes die u{elessly. In the same way when oxpositions
call nor continuous hartal to protest certain specific
government action, it halts the momentum of the whole
nation.
The
result is loss of crores of takas everyday. The negative
effect of s}ch hartals is obvious. Educational institutions
remain closed, which hampers the ed}cation at all levels,
people cannot move anywheze, transportation of goods is
stopped, shops and business firms remain closed, small
income earners like daily labours and rickshaw-pullers
are deprived of their incomes. Trade and industry remain
closed leading to loss of production. The sick cannot
have access to medical treatment on time. As a result,
foreign investors are losing their interests, which leads
the national economy to severe damage and at the same
time, the lifm of the communi|y seriously put at risk.
But
the in|eresting thing is neither the government nor the
oppositions support the hartal, It is a proven truth.
History tells whenever any political party loss the election
and become |he opposition, |hey go for hartal, but when
the same political party come into power, they talk against
it. Now the question is why all the political parties
support hartal when they are in opposition and why they
discourage it when they ware in the ruling party. Is hartal
used for the betterment of general people or it is only
used as stairs to come in power? Considering the severe
harm, politicians can leave hartal, because they know
better how to make the country economically sound and
independent. To secure political demands, they can protest
through public meetings, procession, demonstrations, media
conference and so on. So it will be better for the nation
if hartal is ignored legally with the agreement of both
the oppositions and the government. People do not want
political violence. So the representatives of the people
should ensure this.
Muhammad
Noorus Sabah BBA, BRAC University
