Phulbari Coal Mine Project to turn vast area into desert - Speakers tell roundtable

Phulbari Coal Mine Project to turn vast area into desert - Speakers tell roundtable

The Daily Star, Bangladesh

October 18, 2005

Dhaka, Bangladesh - A vast area of Phulbari Coal Mine Project will turn into a desert if the Asia Energy is allowed to implement its plan, said the speakers at a roundtable yesterday. They also blamed the government for lack of transparency in the controversial move. Why is Asia Energy making statements about its different activities relating to Phulbari project instead of the government, the speakers questioned. They urged people to be united to protest the move.

The roundtable on 'Phulbari coal mine: Whose benefit and whose loss' was organised by the National Committee to Protect Oil-Gas Mineral Resources, Power and Port at the National Press Club in the city with its Convenor Engineer Sheikh Mohammad Shahidullah in the chair.

Speaking at the roundtable, Workers' Party President Rashed Khan Menon asked the government to make a statement on the project. He said open pit method not only affects the environment but also agriculture and other resources of the project area. Dr Hossain Monsur, former chairman of Petrobangla, apprehended that a vast area will turn into a desert.

It is high time to protest any move that undermines not only the interest of local people but also the national interest. Prof Samsul Alam of Buet said there is an indication that the Asia Energy is going to get undue advantage like Niko and it is going to implement a project that will make the area a desert.

Why is the Asia Energy spending a lot of money for the project if it didn't get any commitment from the government, he questioned. Sheikh Mohammad Shahidullah said there is no option but to become united and protest the move. Shahjahan Ali Sarkar, convenor of Phulbari Protect Committee, said around half a million population of Phulbari and its adjacent areas would be affected. These people want to live there and don't want to see that the project is implemented, he added. Principal Khurshid Alam, joint convenor of the committee, said local people would not oppose implementing the project if it were an underground one. But as it is an open pit project, they are opposing the move as most of the people would be affected, he explained.

Manjurul Ahsan Khan, president of the Communist Party of Bangladesh, said patriotic people should be united to protest the move and fight against those who are harming the interest of the country. Tipu Biswas, secretary general of the Workers' Party, said gas resource is likely to be finished by 2020 when the country would need coal. "Those who are in power are involved in looting," he said stressing the need for developing local experts and workers to reap the benefit from coal mine projects. Dr Nazrul Islam, Prof T Ali and Bazlul Rashid Firoz also spoke at the roundtable.

Officials of the Asia Energy said they have spent around US$ 20 million only to assess what impact the project would have on the environment. The Asia Energy has already got the clearance from the Ministry of Environment, they added.