A Talk about Energy

Photos: courtesy

Energy security is one of the most vital issues the world is currently facing. Energy, being one of the key sources of progress, is in very venerable state where every country in the world is facing the crisis and Bangladesh is one of them. To talk about and discuss the energy crisis we are facing, American Alumnae Association (AAA) and University of Asia Pacific (UAP) Law department co-hosted a round table on October 29, bringing in energy and law specialists. The aim of this roundtable was to discuss the current situation of energy security and how it is being dealt with. The roundtable was moderated by Dr. Chowdhury Ishrak Ahmed Siddiky, Department of Law and Human Rights, UAP.

The roundtable kicked off with observations from all participants sharing their concerns about the current mishap of energy in our country. "The main purpose of this discussion is to share our views and expose it through media. We have treated energy crisis as an underdog till this point, but it has come to a point where this underdog can cause trouble to our country," said Professor Jamilur Reza Chowdhury, Vice Chancellor of University of Asia Pacific. A power point presentation by Professor Dr M Nurul Islam showcased the critical position we are in. It showed how, according to government policies, energy hubs such as Petro Bangla's records are not to be audited.

One of the concerns that panellists shared was that there were no representatives from the government officials at the roundtable, even though representatives were requested to attend. Dr M Nurul Islam also pointed out how our country does not have proper DG offices to support energy and also how the 7.5 year plan of our county's energy plan does not mention anything about sustainability.

Developing coals and other energy sources independently was one of the vital points which everybody agreed to during the discussion. "If we don't develop our own energy, soon we will be wiped away. Our big challenge is to be independent for which we should start working immediately," said Dr Mohammad Tamim, Professor and Head, Department of Petroleum & Mineral Resources Engineering (PMRE), BUET.

Barrister Dr Kamal Hossain talked about the legal side of energy sources. "If we keep giving energy away to foreign countries, it is just a matter of time before we face grave danger,' says Dr Kamal Hossain. He also shared concerns for lack of co operations between professionals and bureaucrats working in this field.

The last concern of the participants was the plan of a jointly ventured nuclear power plant with Russia. "Friendship between states is not always a good idea. As we lack man power, giving Russia the power to operate the plant may not be such a good idea, as we are not in a proper state right now. If something happened in the country, the power plant will be left unmanned which will only lead to a disaster," said S M Shafi Sami, Former Advisor of the Caretaker Government of Bangladesh.

This round table was a concern of AAA's Brain Grain Initiative. Tahsin Aman, President of the American Alumni Association (AAA), highlighted that AAA is delighted to support roundtable discussions that are of such national importance. In regards to the manpower need that the panellists mentioned, he informed about AAA's Brain Gain Initiative which creates a platform for its Alumni network to connect and share vast experiences.