BNP slams govt for frequent power cuts

The Bangladesh Nationalist Party on Tuesday alleged people have been experiencing ‘unbearable power cut’ across the country though the government is spending huge public money in the name of power generation, reports UNB.

“The public life has turned miserable due to frequent power outages. This is happening frequently even in big cities like Dhaka, Chittagong, Sylhet, Khulna and Rajshahi. People in rural areas have been experiencing 10 to12 hours of load-shedding a day,” said BNP senior joint secretary general Ruhul Kabir Rizvi.

Speaking at a press conference at the party’s Nayapaltan central office, he further said, “The Awami League government has been spending lakhs of crores of taka from the very beginning in the name of power generation. But, they’re only presenting the nation power outages. Power cut for a long time is a glaring example of the current government’s nature of development.”

Rizvi also alleged that Bangladesh Power Development Board (BPDB) is restoring to lies about the government’s actual capacity to generate power.

According to the PDB website, he said the power generation was 8,830mw against the demand of 8,800mw on 21 May while 8,819mw against the demand of 8,700mw on 20 May.

Referring to state minister for power Nasrul Hamid’s recent comment that it will take 3 to 4 years to ensure uninterrupted power supply, the BNP leader said the minister and the PDB is giving contradictory information about the power generation. “In fact, the PDB is spreading blatant lies, and deceiving people.”

Rizvi said the government has actually allowed ruling party men to plunder public money by setting up quick rental power plants.

Turning to arrest drives, he alleged that law enforcers are regularly arresting BNP leaders and activists from near their party’s central office and implicating them in ‘false’ cases.

The BNP leader warned that if the law enforcers continue to arrest their leaders and activists ‘unlawfully’, the party will not sit idly for a long time. “We’ll come up with a befitting reply.”

Source: Prothom-Alo